WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Smith College basketball team suffered their first loss of the season with a tough 72-70 overtime defeat to Westfield State University on Wednesday night.  

Westield (2-0) trailed the sharpshooting Smith squad by as many as 15 points in the first half and by 11 points, 62-51, with 4:31 remaining in regulation when it mounted its fierce comeback.

A steal and layup by junior guard Janae Jones cut the lead to one, 64-63, with 34 seconds remaining in regulation.

A made free throw from Devon Quattrocchi gave Smith (1-1) a 65-63 lead. But Ashley Finnegan sent the game into overtime when she powered in for a layup in traffic with eight seconds remaining after receiving a nice pass in the lane from Paterson.

The Owls continued their tenacious play in overtime and never trailed. Finnegan converted a conventional three-point play for a 68-65 lead at the 4:36 mark and sophomore guard Jenny Bell converted a steal into a layup for a 70-65 lead. Finnegan drained a 15-foot jumper for Westfield's final points and a 72-67 edge with 2:23 remaining. Smith scored at the final buzzer on a 3-point basket from Lizzy BelBruno.

Smith shot 54 percent (15 for 28) from the field in the first half in taking a 33-25 lead into the locker room. The Pioneers only made 12 of 35 field goals and committed 18 of their 27 turnovers in the final 25 minutes.

The Owls pulled out the victory despite shooting 11 for 27 (40 percent) from the foul line. Smith was 12 for24 from the charity stripe.

Westfield shot 7 for 26 from 3-point range with Paterson canning 4 of 5 attempts from beyond the arc. Also scoring in double figures with 10 points was the ball hawking Jones, who also had seven steals and four assists.

Smith's balanced scoring was led by three players scoring 11 points apiece: Quattrocchi, Rosa Drummond and BelBruno. Sydney Parkmond had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Smith will look to get back on the winning track when they take on Vassar College on the opening day of the Seven Sisters tournament, hosted by Mt. Holyoke College on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.

(Parts of this story courtesy Westfield State Sports Information)