Golden Bears Outlast Westfield State in Overtime for Fifth Straight Win, 97-93

Anderson & Young lead Western New England with career efforts   

WESTFIELD, Mass. (December 8, 2016) – Senior forward Emily Anderson (Rocky Hill, Conn.) scored eight of her career-high 33 points in overtime as the Western New England University women's basketball team extended its winning streak to five with a hard-fought, 97-93 victory at Westfield State University this evening in non-conference action at the Woodward Center.

Top Performers
• Anderson, who established a new career-high with 25 points in Tuesday's 78-58 win over Nichols, topped that effort tonight with 33 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, 7-of-9 from three-point range, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Anderson added five rebounds and one assist in her 31 minutes of action.  
• Senior forward Paige Young (Berlin, Conn.) also turned in a career performance with 19 points and 19 rebounds (nine offensive), both of which represent personal bests. Young, who shot 9-of-10 from the free throw line and sank a pair of key free throws late in overtime, also recorded four steals and three assists.
• Junior guard Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists, while senior guard Sammie Olson (Tolland, Conn.) rounded out Western New England's four double-figure scorers with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.

• Westfield State senior guard Jill Valley (Orange, Mass.) paced the Owls with a team-high 24 points, while senior Kirsy Segarra (Holyoke, Mass.) and sophomore Allison Hester (Sutton, Mass.) chipped in with 13 each.

Game Review
• Valley shot 4-of-6 from the field in the first quarter on her way to nine points as Westfield State held an 18-15 lead after ten minutes of play.
• Western New England, which trailed by 11 (33-22) with 6:14 remaining in the second period, closed out the half with a 16-6 run to pull back to within one (39-38) at the break. Anderson connected on all three of her three-point attempts and 4-of-5 shots overall in the quarter, finishing with 11 points.
• The back-and-forth third quarter featured seven lead changes. The Golden Bears led by as much as five (58-53) with one minute left, but the Owls were able to tie the contest heading into the fourth.
• Western New England scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and led by six (73-67) after Young's layup midway through the period. Westfield State answered with an 11-2 run, fueled by six points from Segarra, to reclaim a 78-75 advantage with 2:06 on the clock. After three more lead changes, Valley sank 1-of-2 free throws with 22 seconds remaining to knot the score at 81, and the Golden Bears missed an opportunity to win the contest on their final possession of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
• Anderson opened the extra session with consecutive triples, and O'Neill drained a pair of free throws after coming up with a steal as Western New England claimed a comfortable 89-81 lead.
• The Owls came all the way back to make it a one-point game (91-90) with 1:19 remaining after Segarra converted a layup, but they would get no closer. Anderson, Young and Olson combined to go a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line down the stretch as the Golden Bears sealed the win.

Notes
• Western New England shot a season-best 85.7% (30-of-35) from the charity stripe. The Golden Bears also registered season-highs in three-point field goals (13), rebounds (57), assists (23), steals (14) and points (97).
• Western New England shot 50% (13-of-26) from beyond the arc and limited the Owls to a 29.7% (11-of-37) clip from long range.
• Led by Young's 19 boards, the Golden Bears held a 57-44 rebounding advantage.

Up Next
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, as Western New England (6-2) wraps up its first semester schedule with another non-conference contest at Elms, and Westfield State (4-3) remains at home to host Smith.