Owls Survive Inquiry, Top Rochester 84-83 in Puerto Rico

WESTFIELD, Mass.  -  Jordan Grant completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 5.5 seconds left in the game, and Westfield State survived TWO late chances from Rochester after officials put time back on the clock and gave the Yellowjackets a second chance for a buzzer-beater in the Puerto Rico Clasico in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico on Saturday morning.

Westfield rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to trail by just five entering the fourth quarter.

After Grant completed the three-point play, Rochester went the length of the court and Clare Groenewoud missed a contested layup and the (apparent) final buzzer sounded.  But after a protest from Yellowjackets' coach Jim Scheible, and a five-minute conversation that included the officials, the scorer's table, and both coaches, the officials put two seconds on the clock and gave Rochester an inbounds play on the hash mark.   The Jackets' freed up Callie McCulley for an apparent open layup on a lob into the paint, and Grant closed ground late to contest, and the shot caromed high off the glass as time expired and the Owls finally sealed the victory.

Westfield won its second game at the Clasico to improve to 7-6 on the season, while Rochester slips to 4-6 with the loss.

Grant finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead the way for the Owls.  Olivia Hadla added 19 as the only other Owl in double figures.  Ashley Ames and Octaviana Williams each added eight, and Jess Gardner contributed seven points and a team high eight rebounds.

"Given the time they put back on the clock, I think we're the first ever team to win three-times in a two-game tournament," joked Owls head coach Andrea Bertini after the game.  "They said the clock started early on the inbounds because they passed it across the baseline before they inbounded in the backcourt.  But we had rebounded the miss, so I thought it should have been our ball with two seconds left."

For the second straight day, the Owls trailed for most of the game, falling behind by as many as 11 in the first half, before trimming the margin back to five, 43-38 at the half.   The Jackets sprinted out to a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, and extend the lead to as many as 17 points, 61-44, before Westfield's Ames drained a three-point shot with 3:20 left in the third to stop the damage. Hadla made it back-to-back three pointers for the Owls and Ames added a layup that got the margin down to eight points at 63-55 and forced a Rochester timeout.  

Westfield trailed 65-60 entering the fourth quarter.  The Owls tied the game at 69-all when Williams grabbed a rebound in traffic and went coast-to-coast for a layup with five minutes to play.  Westfield grabbed the lead after Gardner battled for an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out, finding its way to Morgan Berthiaume for the go-ahead three  pointer from the right wing for a 72-69 Owls lead with 3:55 to play.

Rochester wasn't done, tying the game on a Franki Gomez three-pointer on the next possession.

Grant gave Westfield State a four-point cushion, getting a steal near midcourt on pressure defense and driving for a layup for a 78-74 Westfield lead with 2:11 left.

The Owls got a pair of defensive stops and then a fast-break layup from Hadla to take an 80-74 lead, but Rochester again answered, getting back to back three pointers from McCulley and Lindemuth to tie the game at 80-all with 30 seconds left in the game.  Grant was fouled on the fast break and made one of two give the Owls an 81-80 lead with 27 seconds left.

After a Yellowjackets time out, Rochester advanced the ball and on the inbounds got a step-back three pointer from Hannah Lindemuth on the right sideline that gave the U of R an 83-81 lead.

Williams drove the ball for Westfield on the ensuing possession and had a shot blocked out of bounds with 12 seconds left, but Westfield retained possession, and on the baseline inbounds went outside-in to Grant, who spun for the layup and the foul to give the Owls the 84-83 lead before the end-of-game dramatics.

Rochester was led by 22 from McCulley, 19 from Groenewoud, and 15 from Lindemuth.

Westfield forced 41 turnovers from the Yellow Jackets, which the Owls converted into 46 points.

Note:  box score to follow when available due to technical difficulties with NCAA livestats.