The free throws sunk through the net on loop, each one boosting Westfield another rung above Chatham in the stiff climb toward victory. Ten times Westfield stepped to the foul line in overtime. Ten times Westfield tossed the ball through the basket.
The gulf between the Blue Devils and the Cougars stretched ever wider, until finally it reached unbridgeable depth. An hour and a half of accumulated tension leaked mercifully from the WHS gym, replaced by relief.
Westfield (13-5, 9-2 UCC Watchung) scored 13 points in 4 minutes of overtime to defeat Chatham (10-11, 4-5 NJAC American), 63–57, in a rollercoaster of a game.
“It’s a gutsy win,” Westfield head coach Liz McKeon said. “Chatham’s a great team. It was a battle back and forth.”
Westfield’s invincibility from the free-throw line in overtime was an abrupt U-turn from the end of regulation. The Blue Devils, leading 50–48, had three opportunities at the end of the fourth quarter to essentially ice the game from the foul line.
Annie Ryan missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Sara Rooney missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Sutton Factor missed the front end of a 1-and-1. All within the last 30 seconds.
“We always practice foul shots in practice because they are super important,” Ryan said. “And right there just showed how important they are.”
Those misses haunted Westfield, if only briefly, as Chatham’s Mia Semioli scored in the lane with 1 second left to force overtime. Semioli scored 22 points and, early in overtime, scored off a rapid drive that left one Westfield parent groaning, “She’s like a ghost.”
But neither Semioli nor Riley Allen, a McDonald’s All-American nominee who scored 17 points and unleashed a hail of second-quarter 3-pointers, could stop Westfield in overtime.
The Blue Devils had missed their free throws in regulation. They were proffered a chance for redemption. They grabbed it. Rooney hit four free throws. Ryan hit six. Gorczyca hit a big 3-pointer. That was it.
“The girls that didn’t hit them in the fourth quarter got another chance,” McKeon said. “And they stepped up where that could have rattled them. Foul shots are tough. They are mental.”
Something else that’s mental, according to McKeon, is rebounding. Westfield corralled 40 rebounds, a season high, led by Catie Carayannopoulos with 14. “That’s not so much skill as it is heart and passion and wanting to do it,” McKeon said. “They wanted to win this game.”
Any doubt about Westfield’s implacable desire for victory vanished late in the second quarter. Midway through the quarter, the Blue Devils trailed, 26–15, after a 13-6 Chatham run propelled by Allen’s stunning, silky spurt of 3-pointers. McKeon called a timeout, reset her team mentally, reminded them they’d been there before.
The timeout ignited a spark. Megan Logan connected on consecutive layups. Then Factor took over. Her first 3-pointer looked off going up and did a dance around the rim and the backboard. Didn’t matter. It went in. Her second three, with 11 seconds left in the half, was far simpler. One dribble in. One dribble back out. Bang.
“I was just reading the defense,” Factor said, “and we were down and needed a little pick-me-up, so luckily those fell to give us some momentum going into halftime.”
Westfield rampaged into the third quarter, turning the 10–2 run into an 18–2 run and then into a 25–6 run. It was Factor, hitting another three. It was Gorczyca, hitting a pair of threes. It was Ryan, sometimes scoring herself and sometimes dishing to others. It was Carayannopoulos, shouldering into position to grab more rebounds. It was the whole team.
Gorczyca led in scoring with 20 points and 7 rebounds, Factor scored a season-high 15 points to go with 8 rebounds, and Ryan recorded 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
It was a big win for Westfield. Chatham’s losing record is deceiving: The Cougars play a grueling schedule. Pulling out the close win also signified growth and an upward trajectory for Westfield: In its previous four games, Westfield lost twice by 3 or fewer points.
“Another tight game,” McKeon said, “and to pull out on top definitely is going to propel us in the right direction.”
Westfield returns to the court on Thursday at 7 p.m. for a trip to Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Then the Blue Devils will play at home on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Gill St. Bernard’s to conclude the regular season. Westfield, the No. 2 seed in the Union County Tournament, will begin its postseason on Feb. 8 at home against No. 15 seed Hillside or No. 18 seed Rahway.
But before all that, the Blue Devils have some time to luxuriate in the glow of a hard-fought victory. “We could have rolled over,” McKeon said.
They didn’t.
