Owls Pull Away from AMCATS, 66-46

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore forward Gianna Strange (Westfield, Mass.) totaled 13 points and added four blocks and nine rebounds for Westfield State who outscored Anna Maria College by 14 points in the second half to pull away for a 66-46 victory in MASCAC action from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 3-1 in the MASCAC and 11-4 overall while the AMCATS drop to 4-9 on the season and 0-3 in conference play.

Westfield led by six points entering the second half and outscored Anna Maria 38-24 down the stretch. The Owls quickly pushed the lead into double figures in the first two minutes of the third, getting a layup from Alexa Davis (Springfield, Mass.) followed by a three-pointer from Kayley Downie (Easthampton, Mass.) which gave Westfield a 33-22 advantage.

The lead climbed to 15 points in the final minute of the third with Tavi Williams (Springfield, Mass.) collecting a steal then finishing in the paint for a 47-32 Owls lead.

Westfield continued to stretch the lead in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 24 points after a three-point play by Strange locked up the conference win.

The two sides were a combined 4-27 shooting over the first seven minutes of the game with Sophia DeAngelis (Braintree, Mass.) taking the lid off the hoop with a three-point play, scoring through contact in the paint for an 8-4 advantage with 2:32 left in the first quarter.

The Owls defense played a critical role in holding a lead after the first half, holding the AMCATS to four makes in 20 attempts in the first quarter, although Westfield turned it over ten times in the frame compared to just five for Anna Maria.

Defense carried over into the second quarter, beginning the period on a 10-2 run and holding the AMCATS without a point for nearly a four-minute span which allowed Westfield to push the lead into double digits after a layup from Strange, set up from a steal in the frontcourt from Jailyn Garvin-Martin (Springfield, Mass.).

Anna Maria started the game 0-10 from beyond the arc before Arianna Gonzalez hit a wing three-pointer to cut the Owls lead to six points with 3:10 to play in the half. With the Owls up nine, Sarah O'Connor made a free throw, then scored a layup off an Owls turnover to bring the game back to a six-point Owls lead entering the break.

Westfield carried a halftime lead thanks in part to a sizeable rebounding advantage, grabbing 35 boards compared to the AMCATS 22 for a plus-13 margin. For the game, the Owls outrebounded Anna Maria 64-50, leading to 21 second chance points. Anna Maria kept the game close due in the first half due to 19 Westfield turnovers, nearing their per-game average of 21.1 in just the first 20 minutes of action.

Strange led all scorers with eight and Williams pulled down eight rebounds in a first half which was owned by defense with the teams combining to shoot 3-31 from three-point range.

Downie joined Strange in double figure scoring for Westfield, scoring 12 points while connecting on a pair of threes. Williams led both sides with 11 rebounds and added three steals.

Tiffany Salazar, the AMCATS leading scorer entering today, led the team with 12 points while O'Connor followed with nine points.

Westfield complemented their swarming defense with a strong interior presence, forcing 27 turnovers and generating 19 steals to go along with a season-high eight blocked shots as a unit.

Westfield State will enter a three-game MASCAC road trip which begins on Wednesday at 5:30 P.M. against the current conference leader in Bridgewater State. Anna Maria returns home to face Fitchburg State in a conference game on Wednesday at 5:00 P.M.