Women's Basketball Falls in MASCAC Quarterfinals

WESTFIELD., Mass. –   Anna Maria College's Arianna Gonzalez scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Meaghan Doyle scored 23 to power the sixth-seeded AmCats to a 96-70 upset win over #3 Westfield State in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament at the Woodward Center on Thursday evening.

With the loss, Westfield's season comes to a close with a 17-9 overall record.  Anna Maria (11-14) moves on to face #1 seed Bridgewater State on Friday evening.

Anna Maria solved Westfield State's pressure defense in the third meeting between the two teams, outscoring the Owls 34-15 on the fast break.  Westfield had defeated Anna Maria, 66-46 and 74-57 in the two regular season meetings.  The Owls forced 32 turnovers from the Amcats, but committed 19 of their own.

Westfield shot just 29.9 percent from the floor for the game and 24.2 percent (8-33) from three-point range.  Westfield was 16-29 at the foul line.

The AmCats countered with a blistering 54.5 percent from the floor, and connected on 34.5 percent (10-29) from long range.     

Anna Maria led 49-36 at the half, and extended that margin in the third quarter, as the Owls went ice-cold from long range, connecting on just 1 of 11 from behind the arc in the period, and Westfield trailed 75-52 entering the fourth quarter.

Westfield was led by 14 points from Alexa Davis.  Ashely Ames added 10, connecting on 3 of 6 from downtown.

Anna Maria got 12 points from Sarah O'Connor, and nine points and nine boards from Kimani Wilburn.    Gonzalez finished 9-15 from the floor and 4-7 from long range, and dished out five assists.  Doyle added seven board and five assists in an all-around performance. The AmCats registered 29 assists on 36 buckets.

The loss for the Owls wrapped up the careers of seniors Tavi Williams and Morgan Berthiaume.

Berthiaume finished with three points, four assists and six steals tonight.  She will graduate after a four-year dual-sport career in women's soccer, where she was an all conference midfielder,  and basketball.  On the court she ranks in the top 15 in career assists and steals.

Williams graduates with 630 points, 741 rebounds (6^th all time at Westfield) and 312 steals (fourth all time).  She was an all-conference selection and the league's defensive player of the year as a sophomore , with 2026 all conference selections still pending announcement next week.

Westfield finishes with a record of .500 or better for the 15^th consecutive season under head coach Andrea Bertini.

The Owls will return a solid nucleus next season, and anticipate being buoyed by the return of guard Grace Wigington, who was leading the Owls in scoring at 14.2 points per game and shooting nearly 40 percent from three-point range when lost at midseason with an injury.  The Owls played 10 freshman and sophomores in tonight's game, and will benefit from full seasons from transfers Gianna Strange and Jailyn Garvin-Martin (seven steals tonight) who joined the Owls mid-year this season.