Women's Basketball Defeated By Westfield State In Overtime, 67-65

Dudley, MA --- Westfield State got a buzzer-beating layup from junior Fobasaw Nkamebo (Amherst, MA) at the end of overtime to post a 67-65 win over Worcester State in a MASCAC game played at Nichols College on Tuesday night.

Westfield State improves to 12-4 and 4-0 in the MASCAC with the win.  Worcester State falls to 11-6, 2-2 in the MASCAC.

Nkamebo's heroics were set up by Owls senior Jen Ashton (Beverly, MA) drilling a pair of free throws with just 1.9 seconds left at the end of regulation to force the extra session.

The two squads who entered the contest among the leaders in the conference standings, traded blows throughout.

Worcester State led 31-24 at the intermission, but the Owls utilized a 14-4 spurt at the start of the second half and build up a 51-44 margin following a lay-up by sophomore Jill Valley (Orange, MA) netted a lay-up with 6:23 left in regulation.

The Lancers countered with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes and the hosts took over the 54-53 edge on a bucket in the paint by freshman Nani Perez (Worcester, MA/Holy Name).

Senior Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) connected on a pair of free throws to help extend the 58-55 margin with 29 seconds on the clock.

Westfield State countered with a drive by Valley and she hit the front end of a one-and-one which cut the deficit to two points.

The Owls were forced to foul which stopped the clock, but Langford missed her try at the line and Nkamebo corralled the board for the Owls. In the final moments of regulation, Ashton was put at the line and she canned both of her tries which tied up the score at 58-58.

With the score 62-62 and 1:30 on the clock, Valley tallied a transition lay-up to give the Owls the two-point advantage. Ashton then hit one of her two two tries at the charity stripe with 22 ticks left in overtime which gave the visitors a three-point cushion.

Frankian though came through for her club when she drained a trey from the the right corner as Perez grabbed a loose ball off an offensive carom wth 5.2 seconds remaining to knot up the game 65-65.

On the ensuing inbounds play, Ashton sent the ball to Valley at midcourt, who fired a pass to Nkamebo and she spun around to finish with 0.5 left in overtime.

The Blue and Gold had one final chance as the inbounds pass to the offensive side of the court went untouched.

Ashton finished with 20 points, eight assists, seven steals and five rebounds. Nkamebo finished with a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Valley added 15 points, six rebounds and six steals and senior Gabby Felix (Springfield, MA) added 11 points and fiveboards  for Westfield State.

Frankian led the effort for the Lancers with 18 points and nine rebounds while junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) posted 15 points and 15 rebounds as senior Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA) finished with 10 points and seven caroms.

Westfield State shot 39 percent overall (27-for-69), did not hit a single three pointer (0-for-7) and struggled at the charity stripe (13-for-20 - 65 percent).

The Owls, however, used 19 swipes to force 32 Lancer miscues and produce over one third of thier total offense (23 points). The visitors also had the 38-32 margin in the paint.

Worcester State led in rebounds (48-36) and held the 14-11 lead in offensive caroms. The hosts shot 41 percent overall (27-for-66) while hitting a 42 percent clip from beyond the arc (6-for-14).

Both teams continue MASCAC play on Saturday at 1 PM. Worcester State entertains Fitchburg State on Alumni Day as Westfield State travels to MCLA.

Some Portions Of Release Courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information