Posted: Feb 12, 2018
Westfield State University athletics will host its annual Director of Athletics 3.0 Honor Roll and Reception on Wednesday evening in conjunction with the Owls' men's and women's basketball games against Fitchburg State, which also doubles as the Owls senior nights.
Before the women's game, which tips off at 5:30 p.m., Westfield will honor seniors Rebecca Sapouckey, Alyssa Darling and Keri Paton.
Sapouckey, a 6-foot center from Chicopee, Mass., who attended Granby High School, has totaled 614 career points and 597 career rebounds, to rank 14th all-time at Westfield in rebounding. Her 82 blocked shots are the third-most in program history.
Darling, a 5-3 guard from Palmer, Mass., is a fifth-year senior who missed parts of her junior and senior season with a knee injury. She has career to totals of 614 points, 222 career assists, the 14th best assist total in Owls women's basketball history
Paton, a 5-9 forward, is a Russell, Mass. native who attended Westfield High School and has been a three-year member of the women's basketball team, who also played two years of soccer and competed in one season of track and field with the Owls. Paton has scored 194 career points, and grabbed 183 rebounds in three seasons.
The Owls seniors have known nothing but success, Darling has been a part of five teams which have won or shared the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season title from 2014 to the present, and the trio has been a part of two NCAA tournament bids and a trip to the ECAC New England Championship game.
Westfield State could clinch the outright MASCAC title with a win over the Falcons. The Owls hung a 101-56 defeat on the Falcons three weeks ago in Fitchburg.
At halftime of the women's game, Westfield State University President Dr. Ramon S. Torrecilha, and Director of Athletics Dick Lenfest will recognize the 288 Owls student athletes who achieved a 3.0 grade point average for the Fall 2017 semester, or have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
Overall, 60 percent of Westfield State student-athletes carry a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA.
Teams and athletes will be recognized at the ceremony, and each student receives a gift at the pizza and dessert reception which follows for student-athletes and dignitaries on court three as the basketball game continues.
Before the men's scheduled 7:30 tip off, the Owls will recognize the two seniors on this year's team - guards Allister Williams and Austin Joseph.
Both Williams and Joseph are four-year members of the Westfield State program.
Williams, a 6-3 guard from Boston who attended Bedford High School, has scored 485 career points, made 81 career three-point field goals and has been a 37.9 percent shooter from behind the arc.
Joseph, a six-foot guard from Rockland who attended Cardinal Spelman High School, has stepped into a lead scoring role for the Owls in the second half of his senior season, scoring in double figures in five of the Owls 10 conference games this season. In 60 career games he has totaled 234 points while shooting 37.5 percent from long range.
Both players rank in the top 10 in program history in three-point field goal accuracy.
Westfield State men's basketball brings a 10-13 overall record and a 4-6 mark in MASCAC play into the game. Westfield and Fitchburg are currently tied for the fourth spot in the conference, and are vying to host a first round playoff game. Fitchburg brings a 9-13 overall record into the game. The Falcons eked out a 65-63 win over the Owls on January 23 in Fitchburg.