Westfield led 2–0, then 4–2 in the first three minutes of the game, thanks to points from co-captain Annie Ryan and Sara Rooney. However, the Blue Devils wouldn’t keep their lead for long and wouldn’t get the lead back until co-captain Paige Gorczyca hit a 3-pointer with just over four minutes left in the game. Once the Blue Devils got the lead back, they refused to let Roselle Catholic take it from them again.
With the fourth quarter came controversial foul calls, along with a close-call comeback for Westfield. Entering the final quarter down by 9 points, the Blue Devils came out strong, getting on the board quickly as a result of a foul on co-captain Sutton Factor, who converted on both free throws. With Westfield slowly catching up to Roselle Catholic’s lead, Gorczyca hit a 3-point shot to push Westfield ahead by 1 point.
In its last game, against West Orange, Westfield had to find a way to come back from a 14-point deficit, which it did. This game, Westfield had to find a way to pull through after being down by 16 points, and it was able to do that too. “They continue to believe in themselves,” said head coach Liz McKeon. “They may hang their heads for a little bit, but they know what the next play is and they have each other’s backs.”
With three minutes left, Roselle Catholic’s coach stepped onto the court, one of the many times throughout the game, and frantically called for a timeout. One minute later, Ryan was dominant and increased Westfield’s lead to 6 points, 57–51. Finally, with 30 seconds left, an opposing player fouled out with a foul on Catie Carayannopoulos, who earned another point for Westfield. Increasing the score even more, Westfield ultimately finished the game with a 64–57 win. Despite being down once again, Westfield proved it could persevere.“We definitely showed that we can stay in there in a very difficult game,” said Gorczyca.
Ryan, one of Westfield’s biggest scoring threats, found herself in foul trouble during the second half of the game. While Ryan still recorded a game-high 20 points, other Westfield players needed to fill the void when she was off the court. “With Annie out, who is a big scoring threat, we just had to pick our heads up defensively and keep the energy up and encourage everyone,” said Factor.
There was an immense amount of energy throughout the gym coming from the players and the fans throughout the entirety of the game, keeping the intensity on the court high. Each play was fast-paced, and the players knew they needed to continue to push each other. Factor said, “We were encouraging everyone with every little thing they did. A good rebound, good block, good steal, everything was encouraged.”
The game was strong defensively for Westfield, especially on the boards. Carayannopoulos recorded 15 rebounds, and Gorczyca had 10. The Blue Devils were also pressing the Lions and forcing turnovers, which they were able to capitalize on.
Westfield has already shown improvement this season with a win against New Providence, who it lost to in their first meeting of the season, and now a win against Roselle Catholic who it lost to 52–42 earlier this season. The Blue Devils look to continue their six-game winning streak against Cranford on Thursday.
