Women's Basketball upended by Owls to open MASCAC play

Courtesy of Westfield Sports Information

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State sophomore forward Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) scored a career-high 30 points to lead the way, as Westfield rolled plast Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts,  117-63 at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield improves to 6-7 and 1-0 in the league this season.  The Owls have won three straight conference titles and were picked to win the title again this season in the league pre-season coaches' poll.  MCLA is now 4-7 and 0-1 in the league.

Gray finished 11-18 shooting from the floor, and made six of 12 three-point tries and grabbed eight rebounds .  The Owls finished with five players scoring in double-figures, as Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow, Mass.) added 21 points and five steals, to move her career point total to 971, and got 16 points and nine rebounds from Lucy Barrett (Mt. Greylock/Williamstown, Mass.), 15 and seven assists from Chelsea Moussette (Hampshire/Southampton, Mass.) and 10 from Allison Hester (Sutton, Mass.).

The game was tied at 19-all at the end of the first period, but after taking stock of the Blazers in the opening frame, Westfield erupted for 40 points in the second quarter, outscoring the Trailblazers 40-14 in the quarter to lead 59-33 at the half.  The 40-point point second-quarter is the second-highest quarter scoing total for the Owls.

The 117 points by Westfield is the third-highest total in school history (the school record is 126, set against Salem State in 2017.  The Owls forced 44 turnovers from MCLA.

For MCLA, the Blazers were led by 14 points from Karina Mattera (Johnston, R.I.). Samantha Gawron (South Hadley, Mass.) added 12 points, and Erika Ryan (Shenendehowa/Clifton Park, N.Y.) chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.