Gray, Owls Hold Off Marauding Vikings, 91-77

Westfield State University got a near triple double from Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) as the Owls got past Salem State 91-77 in a MASCAC women's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Saturday. 

Gray finished with 19 points, 11 steals and nine rebounds.  Gray's big day counteracted a standout performance from Vikings' freshman center Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.) with 25 points and Salem school-record 30 rebounds

Westfield led 45-36 at the half, but the Vikings repeatedly made their runs at the Owls.

With Westfield up 60-49 after an Alison Mendel (Adams, Mass./Hoosac) layup with 2:55 left in the third quarter, Salem closed the quarter with a 9-2 run to trim the Owls' lead to 62-58 entering the fourth quarter.

The Owls extended the lead with a 13-0 run to open the fourth quarter, capped by a three-pointer from Cayla Durkee (Georgetown, Mass.) , but Salem sawed the lead back down to five points, at 77-72 after a Nicole Freddo (Marblehead, Mass/Tilton) layup with 4:28 left.  From that point, the Owls' Chelsea Moussette (Southampton, Mass./Hamshire) and Durkee hit back to back three-pointers to push the Westfield lead back to 11 at 83-72, and the Owls made free throws down the stretch to preserve the lead and the win.

Westfield got balanced scoring with five players in double figures.  Mendel netted 15 off the bench, connecting on 6-12 from the floor.   Isabella Aitken (Pittsfield, Mass.) added 12 and Durkee 11, while Moussette finished with 10 points, nine assists and five steals.  

Westfield State improves to 4-1 in the MASCAC and 7-11 overall.  Salem is now 4-13 and 1-5 in the League. 

 The Vikings got 21 points and six rebounds from Freddo.

Westfield forced 45 turnovers from the Vikings, but the Owls suffered through a 9-50 shooting performance from behind the three point arc.   Westfield finished 35-103 shooting in the fast paced game.  

Salem finished 29-69 (42 percent) from the floor, 2-4 from three point range, and 17-19 at the foul line.  Salem out rebounded Westfield 63-49 in the game.