Box Score WESTFIELD, Mass. (December 11, 2021) – The Western New England women's basketball team traveled to Westfield State to close out the fall semester where the Golden Bears came up short 87-72 to the Owls.
Records:
- Westfield State: 3-7
- Western New England: 3-7, 1-2 CCC
How It Happened:
Westfield took an early lead in the first quarter with back-to-back layups to lead 6-2. Abby Garaban stopped the potential run by the Owls with a layup herself followed by Grace Fisher making a layup to tie the game 6-6. The two teams began trading baskets when the Owls hit a three to lead 11-8. The Golden Bears were down 19-15 with 2:06 left in the quarter when Fisher and Alexia Leon both made baskets to tie the game 19-19 heading into the second quarter.
Leon continued her momentum into the second quarter with a jumper just 13 seconds in to earn the Golden Bears the 21-19 lead. The Owls quickly responded with four points to retake the lead before the back-and-forth action began again. Western New England regained the lead with a three from Julia Quinn with 6:00 left to play in the half before the Owls answered with their own three just 15 seconds later to take a 29-28 lead. The Golden Bears worked to get back within one when the Owls made back-to-back threes to take a 37-30 lead with 4:01 left in the half and force the Golden Bears into a timeout. Out of the timeout the Golden Bears went on a 7-0 run to tie the game 37-37 with 2:18 on the clock. The Owls scored seven more points in the half to the Golden Bears five for Westfield State to lead 44-42 at the break.
Fisher tied the game right at the start of the third quarter followed by a three from Emma Kahn to take a 47-44 lead. An and-one play by Westfield tied the game once again 47-47. Colleen Furlong regained the lead for the Golden Bears before the Owls scored 11 unanswered to points to take a 58-49 lead with just 4:50 remaining in the third quarter. Leon ended the scoring spree for the Owls with a three and then Fisher made another layup to get the Golden Bears back within four (58-54) with 3:09 on the clock. The back-and-forth action then began and went until the end of the quarter where the Owls led 65-60 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Owls opened the fourth with a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 10 (70-60) before Paige Brinkman was able to slow them down with a layup. The trading of baskets began once again before almost three minutes went by without a score for either team. At the 4:32 mark, Fisher made a layup to get the Golden Bears within six (73-67) before a 4-0 run by the Owls extended the lead back to 10. Quinn then went on a scoring spree for Western New England tallying a pair of free throws and then a three to keep the Golden Bears in the game. Six unanswered points for the Owls forced Western New England into a timeout with 48 seconds left with the Owls leading 84-72. The Owls scored the last three points of the game to win 87-72.
Inside the Numbers:
- As a team, the Golden Bears shot 47.4 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.5 percent from the foul line while tallying 48 rebounds, 20 assists, five steals and four blocks.
- Fisher led the team recording a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds while Leon earned 14 points in the game. Quinn added 12 points off the bench for the Golden Bears.
- Abby Garaban led with five assists in the game while also adding seven rebounds.
Up Next:
The Golden Bears return after the winter break to continue conference play on the road at Endicott on January 4th for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
