BRISTOL, R.I. – A balanced scoring attack led No. 5 seed Westfield State University to a 66-58 over No. 4 seed Roger Williams University in the quarterfinals of the ECAC New England Division III women’s basketball tournament on Wednesday.
Westfield, 19-10, advances to the ECAC Tournament semi-finals and will play at No. 1 seed Castleton State College on Saturday. Roger Williams finishes its season with a program-best 19-10 record.
The Owls were led by sophomore Jen Ashton (Beverly, Mass.) who tallied 16 points, five assists and three steals. Keri Doldoorian (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Gabby Felix (Springfield, Mass.) also totaled double-digit points for Westfield, as Doldoorian racked 13 points and four rebounds and Felix scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Senior reserve guard Briana Kelly (Hampden, Mass.) and junior reserve forward Tania Ortiz (Holyoke, Mass.) scored nine
and eight points, respectively, as the Owls again displayed their depth.
RWU was led by Alexandria Lanieri (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) with 16 points and six rebounds. Kaitlyn Bovee (Berlin, Conn.) tallied 13 points and six rebounds, and Angelica Ariola (Prospect, Conn.) was two assists shy of a double-double with 11 points and eight assists.
Both teams battled early for the lead with plenty of back-and-forth action. The Owls began pull away with 12:50 remaining as an Ortiz layup put Westfield on top, 18-12.
Elizabeth Kilzi (Waverly, Pa.) helped bring the Hawks back within striking distance with a 3-pointer, cutting Westfield’s lead to three points, 18-15. Kilzi led the Hawks in the first half with nine points, all coming from behind the arc. Ashton sparked the Owls in the opening 20 minutes with 14 of her 16 points.
The Owls went on a 13-2 run over the next eight minutes, starting with a Kelly jumper and capped off with a layup from Ortiz to make the score 34-19 with 3:37 left in the first half. Westfield led at halftime, 38-26.
The Hawks began the second half with 3-pointers from Ariola and Bovee to cut the deficit to eight, 40-32. Westfield responded with layups from Doldoorian and Ortiz to bring the lead back to double digits, 55-43 with 7:51 remaining.
The Owls kept in control for most of the second half, holding RWU at bay by as much as 12 points, until a late surge from the Hawks led by Lanieri. Lanieri scored six straight points to bring the Hawks within five points, 59-54 with only 1:52 remaining.
The Owls were able to hold off the Hawks and build back their lead to 10 points, capped off by a pair of free throws from Kelly for a 66-56 lead with 25 seconds remaining.
Westfield shot a solid 42 percent from the field, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, and was 14 for 15 from the foul line.
