WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State showed the worst and the best of its "System" style of play, rallying late to defeat Ramapo (NJ) College, 76-63 in the opening game of the Westfield State Holiday Tournament at the Woodward Center on Saturday.

Westfield trailed by as many as seven, 53-46 late in the third period.  Through three quarters the Owls were shooting just 19 percent from the floor and had connected on just eight of 39 three point tries.  Westfield's defense was forcing turnovers, holding a 35-6 margin in turnovers after thirty minutes of play, but the Owls couldn't convert the extra possessions into points.

The tide turned in the final two minutes of the third, as Melissa Gray and Kierra McCarthy connected on three pointers at the end of the quarter to cut the Roadrunners lead to 53-52 to start the fourth.

Westfield opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run.  After the Roadrunners got the opening bucket of the quarter from Hannah Campbel, Westfield scored the next nine points, as Gray sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around another trifecta from Lucy Barrett, and the Owls led 61-55 just 55 seconds ino the fourth quarter.  Westfield outscored Ramapo 24-10 in the final quarter for a final margin which belied the flow of the game.

Gray had opened the game shooting 0-12 from the floor, before finishing by making three of her final five shots, all triples, to finish with 11 points.  Barrett, who had been nursing the flu all week, finished with 18 points to lead the Owls, connecting on 4-8 from behind the arc and 4-4 at the foul line.  The Owls got 11 points from Kierra McCarthy, who picked up three fouls earlu in the first half, and 10 from Alyssa Darling, who scored all of her points in the opening 20 minutes to help keep the Owls in the game despite their shooting woes.

Westfield forced 45 turnovers from the Roadrunners.  The Owls finished 23-98 from the floor and 13-50 from three point range.

Ramapo was led by 12 points each from Jina Crawford and Tia Solomon.  Solomon added 11 rebounds.  Jenna Harsh contributed seven points and five assists.

Westfield advances to the championship game tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., to face the winner of Worcester Polytechnic Intitute and SUNY-New Paltz.   Ramapo will play the loser of that game in the consolation final at 1:00 p.m.