Owls Close Regular Season With Big Win; Host Playoff Tuesday Night

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Octaviana Williams (Springfield, Mass.) and Hannah Sheldon (Taunton, Mass.) combined for 30 points to lead Westfield State the 95-67 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over Salem State this Saturday afternoon at Twohig Gymnasium in Salem, Mass.

The Owls improved their record to 16-9, 9-3 in the conference, while the Vikings finished the regular season with a record of 12-13 and 5-7 in MASAC action. 

Westfield will be the #3 seed in next week's conference tournament, hosting #6 Fitchburg State in a first-round matchup on Tuesday, February 20 at the Woodward Center.  Tip off time will be 5:30 p.m.

The Owls had six players, including all five starters notch double-digits en route to their victory with Sheldon and Williams leading the way with 15 points apiece followed by Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) and Maddie Pond (Holyoke, Mass.) who had 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Salem State's Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.)  and Abuk Teng (Manchester, N.H.)  both recorded double-doubles, with Goncalves grabbing 12 rebounds to go along with 18 points, and Teng notching 10 rebounds and 21 points in the effort.

The Vikings opened the game on a 7-2 run before a Sheldon triple halted their momentum with just under six minutes to play in the opening stanza. Two minutes later, a three-point play from Teng would put the Vikings ahead 12-5 but the Owls would hang around and find themselves behind by three points (18-15) to enter the second quarter.

Just two and a half minutes into the second the Owls took their first lead of the game (23-22) and then continued with a 9-0 run to take the 32-22 edge with 5:44 to play in the half. With three minutes remaining the Vikings would find themselves within eight points before an 11-0 Owls' run would put them behind 49-30 at the break.

The Owls wasted no time building on their lead as they drained a deep ball from Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, Mass.) out of the gates to give them the 22-point lead (52-30). A Teng layup would bring the Vikings within 17 points (54-37) at the eight-minute mark but three more triples from the Owls over the remainder of the third would guide them the commanding 77-48 lead to head into the final 10 minutes of action.

With under five minutes to play in the fourth the Vikings went on a 9-0 run, behind four points from Nicolette D'Itria (Revere, Mass.),  but their deficit proved to be too much as the Owls went on to secure the 95-67 victory over the Vikings.

The Vikings will be back at home this Tuesday, February 20^th where they will host the first round of the MASCAC post-season tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 7p.m.