Women's Basketball Falls Late at Plymouth, 67-65

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Sophomore Sabrina Vlahovic (New Hope, Pa.) sank four free throws in the final minute as Plymouth State University outpaced a high-speed Westfield State University team, defeating the Owls 67-65 in a non-conference women's basketball game at Foley Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
 
Vlahovic notched her first career double-double to lead the Panthers with 16 points and ten rebounds, while junior Jalen Cook (Monkton, Vt.) added 14 points of her own, shooting 6-of-14 from the floor and adding four blocks.
  
Plymouth State improves to 1-1 on the season, while the Owls go to 0-2.

Melissa Gray finished with 17 points to lead the Owls.  Paris Wilkey added 15 and Olivia Hadla 11 points, five rebounds and six assists.  Jess Gardner grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench for Westfield.
 
The Panthers shot 53.3% from the floor in the first quarter, but five three-pointers from the Owls contributed to an early advantage 21-18 at the end of one.

A 14-2 run put the Panthers back ahead 36-28 with 2:37 remaining in a fast-paced second quarter.

The Owls kept hitting from three-point-land late in the second to close the gap 39-36 heading into the half.

PSU continued to run the floor, scoring the first six points of the third quarter to give the Panthers a 45-36 lead with 7:07 on the clock.

The Owls outscored the Panthers 16-8 to finish out the third, cutting the PSU lead to just one, 53-52.

Westfield State took an early fourth quarter lead, 55-53 after hitting from deep yet again.

Plymouth State led 63-61 after a Cook free throw with just over a minute to play, but Westfield State connected from beyond the arc for the 13th time to take the lead with 52 seconds to play.

Vlahovic calmly knocked down a pair of free throws, but the Owls tied the game going one-of-two from the line on the ensuing possession.

Vlahovic went to the line again with just 14.2 seconds left, again sinking both attempts. The Owls had one last attempt from three to win but came up short.

PSU out-rebounded WSU 50-38 and held a 40-16 advantage in points in the paint.

 Plymouth State had not beat Westfield State since the 2008-2009 season.