The Owls improved to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in the Mass. State Conference with the key home victory. Worcester is 7-6 and 0-2.

Westfield bolted to an 11-0 lead in the opening three minutes, but Worcester came back to trail at halftime, 25-23.
 

The game continued to be a defensive struggle in the second half. Worcester took its only second-half lead, 33-32, on a basket by freshman forward Brianne Flanders (Southampton/Hampshire Regional) with 11:33 remaining.

But the Owls went on a key 11-0 run for a 43-33 lead with 8:46 remaining. Two jumpers by senior forward Kristen Strole (Agawam), a 3-point basket by freshman guard Kate-Lyn Laflamme (Chicopee), and a layup by Wasuk sparked the scoring run.

Westfield expanded its lead to 14 points, 58-34, on another Strole jumper at the 7:14 mark.

Worcester – led by the 3-point shooting of Lindsay DelleChiaie (Leominster) closed to within six points, 50-44, with 3:24 remaining.

But Westfield made 14 free throws in the final two minutes to pull off the big victory. For the game, the Owls shot 80 percent from the foul line (25-for-31). And in the second half they were 18-for-20 from the charity stripe.