All-Tournament Team, left to right: MVP Meghan O’Sullivan, Alyssa Leonard, Jen Ashton, Gabby Felix. Missing are Jennifer Mateo (Drew) and Claire Ramonas (Regis). (Photo by Mickey Curtis)
WESTFIELD – Castleton State College captured the inaugural Westfield State University Women’s Basketball Tip-Off Tournament with a 52-38 victory over the host Owls on Saturday.
The Spartans won despite not having a single player score in double figures in the championship game. Tournament MVP Meghan O’Sullivan scored nine second-half points, including a key bucket in the game’s final minutes when the Owls were staging a comeback.
Westfield freshman guard Keri Doldoorian drives past Castleton’s Jade Desroches. Photo by Dan Brady
rebounds for the Spartans. O’Sullivan (28 points) and Leonard (17 points, 11 rebounds) led Castleton to their first-day tournament victory over Regis College.
Westfield led Castleton, 13-9, then the Owls went stone cold offensively, failing to score for a 12-minute stretch. Castleton outscored Westfield, 11-0, in the final 8:35 of the first half to take a 20-13 intermission lead.
The Owls finally scored on two free throws by sophomore center Gabby Felix of Springfield, Mass., with 16:43 on the second-half clock to trail 25-15.
Felix earned all-tournament team honors by posting a double-double with game highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Westfield sophomore guard Jen Ashton (10 points, four assists, six steals) was also selected to the all-tournament team.
Despite struggling offensively (Westfield only shot 22 percent from the field) the Owls closed to within six points, 38-32, on a Felix lay-in with 3:04 remaining.
But sparked by two O’Sullivan jumpers and two steals and four points from Jade Desroches, the Spartans quickly reeled off 10 unanswered points for a 48-32 lead with 1:58 remaining.
Also scoring nine points in Castleton’s balanced attack was Stephanie Linder. The teams’ rebounds, turnovers and free throw shooting were nearly identical, but the Spartans shot 36 percent from the field.
Regis College 59- Drew University 37
Junior forward Claire Ramonas posted a double-double with game highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds to power Regis College to a 59-37 victory over Drew (N.J.) University in the consolation game of the Westfield State University Women’s Basketball Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 17.
Also scoring in double figures for the Pride was sophomore guard Janaya Bradley with 13 points. Regis sophomore guard Emilee Marro had nine points and seven rebounds and game highs of five assists and four steals.
Regis College jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the outset but Drew regrouped to pull within three points, 13-10, on a Becky Smith layup with 11:47 remaining in the first half. Regis responded by outscoring Drew 19-5 the remainder of the first half to take a commanding 32-15 intermission lead.
The teams played on even terms for most of the second half then the Pride began pulling away in the final five minutes. A Ramonas layup gave Regis a 54-30 lead with 5:38 remaining.
Regis shot 42 percent from the field and limited Drew to 11 field goals in 47 attempts (23 percent).
Smith scored a team-high 11 points for the Rangers and Whitney Mackay of nearby Suffield, Conn., tallied nine points. Courtney Stephens had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Ramonas and Drew point guard Jennifer Mateo were named to the all-tournament team.
