Jen Ashton led the way for Westfield with 25 points. (File Photo)
NASHUA, N.H. – Jen Ashton scored 25 points and Jill Valley 20 points as Westfield State topped Rivier University, 85-72 in a non-conference game at the Muldoon Gymnasium on Saturday.
Trailing by a point, 38-37 at the half, Westfield erupted for 48 second-half points to post the win. The Owls shot a blistering 61 percent (19-33) from the floor in the second stanza.
Westfield trailed by as many as six points during the early stages of the second half, with Rivier grabbing its biggest lead at 54-48 on a Caitlyn Perry jumper with 11:20 left in the contest.
Westfield battled back, tying the game at 63-all on a Valley jumper with 6:20 to play. From there, the Owls used an 11-4 spurt over the next 3:31. Westfield forced three turnovers in that stretch. The run started with a three-pointer from Ashton and was capped by back to back layups from Valley to give the Owls a 78-67 led with 2:49 to play.
The Raiders were unable to recover from the Owls outburst and never got closer than 10 for the rest of the game.
Valley’s 20 points were a career high for the sophomore. She converted nine of ten tries from the field. Forbasaw Nkamebo added 14 points for the owls, and continued her hot shooting from the floor, as she converted seven of nine shots. She ranked third in the nation in field goal percentage, according to this week’s NCAA statistics report. Ashton dished out seven assists to go with her game-high 25 points.
Caitlyn Perry scored 23 to lead the host Raiders. Deanna Purcell added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Savannah Butterfield totaled 13 points and 11 assists.
Westfield improves to 4-2 on the season. The Owls will next host Smith College at 7:00 on Tuesday.
Rivier drops to 3-7 with the loss. The Raiders will be off until January 6 when the host Albertus Magnus.
