BRISTOL, R.I. –The fourth-seeded Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team was bumped from the ECAC Tournament in quarterfinal play by the fifth seed Westfield State University 66-58.

The Owls were led by sophomore Jen Ashton (Beverly, Mass.) who tallied 16 points and three rebounds.  Keri Doldoorian (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Gabby Felix (Springfield, Mass.) also totaled double-digit points for Westfield, as Doldoorian racked 13 points and four rebounds and Felix scored ten points and grabbed seven rebounds.   

RWU was led by Alexandria Lanieri (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) with 16 points and six rebounds.  Kaitlyn Bovee (Berlin, Conn.) finished as the Hawks second-leading scorer with 13 points and six rebounds, and Angelica Ariola (Prospect, Conn.) was two assists shy of a double-double with 11 points and eight assists. 

Both teams battled early for the lead with plenty of back-and-forth action in the beginning of the first.  The Owls began pull away from the Hawks with 12:50 remaining as a layup from Tania Ortiz (Holyoke, Mass.) put Westfield on top 18-12.

Elizabeth Kilzi (Waverly, Pa.) helped bring the Hawks back within striking distance with a three-pointer, cutting Westfield's lead to three points with a score of 18-15.  Kilzi led the Hawks in the first with nine points all coming from behind the arc.

The Owls responded by going on a 12-2 run against the Hawks over the next eight minutes starting with a jumper from Briana Kelly (Hampden, Mass.) and capped off with a layup from Ortiz to make the score 34-19 with only 3:37 left in the first half.  Westfield remained in control for the rest of the first heading into halftime leading the Hawks by a score of 38-26.

The Hawks came out swinging early in the second half as a pair of three-pointers from Ariola and Bovee to cut Wesfield's lead to eight with a score of 32-40. Westfield responded with a pair of layups from Doldoorian and Ortiz to bring the Owls lead back to double digits with a score of 43-55 with 7:51 remaining.

The Owls kept in control for most of the second half, holding RWU at bay by as much as twelve points, until a late surge from the Hawks led by Lanieri brought her team back into the game.  Lanieri scored six straight points for RWU to bring the Hawks within five points of the Owls by a score of 54-59 with only 1:52 remaining. 

Despite the late push from Roger Williams, the Owls were able to hold off the Hawks and build back their lead to ten points, capped off by a pair of free throws from Kelly to make the score 56-66 with only 25 seconds remaining.  This was enough to give Westfield the victory with a final score of 58-66.

Westfield will travel to face the #1 seeded Castleton State on Saturday in the semi-final round of the ECAC tournament, while the Hawks finish their season with a program best 19-8 record overall.