MCLA falls to Westfield late in Women's basketball 67-56
North Adams, MA- The visiting Westfield State Owls received a 17 point, 17 rebound performance from Forbashaw Nkamebo as their women's basketball team pulled away late from a game MCLA squad to earn a hard fought 67-56 victory over the Trailblazers. With the win the Owls improve to 14-10 overall and sit at 7-4 in the MASCAC. The Trailblazers fall to 4-19 and 0-11 in the conference.
The closing half was tight until the final few minutes. It featured eleven lead changes and three ties, the last of which came with under five minutes to play.
With 4:47 to play, MCLA tied the game on Kayla Hotaling's bucket making it 54 all. The Owls would clamp down on the Trailblazers holding them to just two points the rest of the way as they gradually pulled ahead. Westfield took the lead for good on a pair of Taylor Travis free throws to ignite a 7-0 run to make it 61-54 in favor of the visitors.
The Owls were great from the line down the stretch as they converted 11 of their last 12 free throws to pull away. While the Owls were stretching the lead, MCLA was going cold. Over the final four minutes, the Trailblazers went 1-9 from the floor, the lone basket a Hotaling putback with under 30 seconds remaining.
A well played first half saw MCLA score the first six points of the game and eventually pushed out to a 12-2 advantage after making five of their first seven shots. The run forced the Owls to call a timeout and they quickly responded with a 6-0 run to get right back in the game. The Owls finally tied the game at 16 on the heels of an 8-0 spurt as Keri Doldoorian connected on a pair of triples.
The rest of the half saw four lead changes and three ties. MCLA still led late in the half at 34-30 and missed three chances to extend the lead. The Owls answered when Doldoorian drilled her third three pointer of the half in the waning seconds to make it 34-33 in favor of MCLA at halftime. Each team shot well in the opening half as MCLA connected on 40% of their attempts, while Westfield was at a 45% clip.
Nkamebo was solid throughout converting 8-13 attempts from the floor. She pulled down six offensive rebounds to lead the team. Doldoorian finished with 15 points and 4 assists. Jen Ashton, the Owls leading scorer, was held in check with only 6 points, but did finish with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. The Owls shot 39% in the contest and committed 15 turnovers.
MCLA was led by Hotaling's double double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. She added 5 blocks. Kaitlyn Chenevert and Michaela Siver each ended the night with 10 points. MCLA shot just 31% in the game, including 21% in the closing period. They committed 11 turnovers.
The Trailblazers will travel to Suffolk on Thursday night for a non league contest before hosting Senior Day on Saturday against Salem State.