Box Score WESTFIELD, Mass.—Westfield State forced 34 Beacons' turnovers and used a "five-in, five-out" substitution pattern to wear down UMass Boston women's basketball, in a 91-79 Owls victory.
THE BASICS
Westfield State 91, UMass Boston 79
(UMass Boston 6-2, 0-1 Little East)
(Westfield State 5-3, MASCAC 0-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Westfield State used a full-court press for the entire 40 minutes and constantly kept fresh legs on the floor, to hand the Beacons' their second-straight loss. After earning wins over their first three Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) opponents, the Beacons failed to get a win in their fourth-and-final matchup against a MASCAC foe.
The Beacons stuck with the Owls in each of the first two quarters, but Westfield State outscored UMass Boston 55-46 in the second half for their third-straight win.
Senior Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) kept the Beacons' close for as long as she could, as she finished with a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Sophomore Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) and freshman Ariana Rivera (Burlington, Mass.) both finished with 13 points, while sophomore Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) added 10 points. Fellow sophomore Raven Kelsey (Boston, Mass.) chipped in with eight points, nine rebounds and two assists.
The Owls were led by center Forbasaw Nkamebo who ended the day with a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds. Kirsy Segarra (13 points), Jill Valley (13 points) and Alyssa Darling (11 points) joined Nkamebo in double-figures.
UMass Boston raced out to a 6-0 lead in the opening 1:14 but couldn't sustain the momentum, as the Owls racked up eight-straight points to take their first lead of the night. The two teams went back-and-forth for the next 10 minutes, before UMass Boston once again stretched their lead out, this time to seven (29-22) with 7:23 to go in the second quarter.
Westfield State would have an answer though, as they outscored UMass Boston 14-4 over the final 7:23 in the quarter to grab a 36-33 halftime edge.
The Beacons managed to keep the game close in the third quarter, at least to start, as they tied the game at 50-50 with 3:54 left in the third. But Westfield State ended the quarter red hot, as they used a 10-3 run to grab a 60-53 lead after three quarters.
With the Beacons' tiring in the fourth, Westfield State picked up the pace even more, as they outscored the Beacons' by five points (31-26).
BY THE NUMBERS
- The Beacons' two-game losing streak marks their first-such streak, since February 25, 2014. UMass Boston lost the final two games of their 2013-14 season.
- Rivera's 13 points marked a new career-high for the freshman. She had scored just 12 points over her previous five games.
- UMass Boston falls to 4-15 all-time against Westfield State with the loss.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will look to get things back on track on Saturday, when the Beacons host undefeated Keene State College (7-0) in Little East Conference play. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
