By Adam Levine
Sports Editor
The Framingham State Rams lost to the Westfield State Owls by a score of 82-79 Feb. 1.
Framingham outscored Westfield 46-14 in the paint, but Westfield’s 40% 3-point field goal shooting secured them the win.
The Owls scored 8 unanswered points to start the game.
The Rams’ Kelsey Yelle scored a layup, followed by a free throw from teammate Jenna Tavanese to put Framingham on the scoreboard.
Westfield scored another 4 unanswered points and held an early 10-point lead over the Rams.
The Rams’ Katty Haidul and Yelle combined for 8 unanswered points, which cut Westfield’s lead to 13-11.
With 5:38 remaining in the first quarter, Westfield outscored the Rams 10-1 over the next 2 minutes and controlled a 23-13 lead.
Framingham closed the gap with a 5-0 scoring run.
Westfield closed out the first quarter, outscoring Framingham 7-2 and held a 30-20 lead.
The Owls continued their dominance into the second quarter.
Framingham was able to prevent any major scoring runs for the Owls, but Westfield steadily outscored the Rams.
With 2:26 remaining in the second quarter, Westfield held their largest lead of the game at 19 points. After their strong offensive performance, the Owls held a 50-31 lead over the Rams.
The Rams’ Krystalee Fernandez’s free throw sparked an 11-0 scoring run to close out the first half.
Westfield led 50-42 at the end of the first half.
Framingham continued their scoring run and piled on another 6 unanswered points 2 minutes into the second half, which cut their deficit to 2 points.
With 6:55 remaining in the third quarter, Westfield led 56-52.
With 3:50 remaining in the third quarter, Framingham’s Yelle scored a layup and launched an 8-0 scoring run for Framingham.
With 1:23 remaining in the third quarter, Framingham led for the first time in the game by a score of 60-59.
Westfield scored 6 unanswered points to close out the quarter and led 65-60.
The Rams climbed back within 3 points before Westfield broke away again.
Westfield outscored the Rams 10-2 and extended their lead to 11 points.
Framingham outscored the Owls 10-4 in the remaining 5 minutes of the game, but Westfield held their lead and secured an 82-79 victory.
Framingham’s Yelle was perfect from the field on 11 attempts. She scored 23 points and recorded 11 rebounds.
Yelle said, “I’m not really concerned about my stats - just upset that we lost.
“We just need to come together and work as a team,” she added.
Framingham’s Haidul scored 19 points and recorded 20 rebounds in the game. Haidul said, “We were playing better as a team in the second half. It was just getting warmed up to the game that was a little bit difficult for us.
“We just need to get better each practice that we have,” Haidul added.
Framingham dropped to a conference record of 5-3 and an overall record of 13-5.
Framingham will travel to Fitchburg State for another conference matchup Feb. 4.