Melissa Gray (file photo)
Posted: Feb 08, 2020
Westfield State's Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) scored 26 points with seven three-pointers as the Owls soared to a 92-64 victory over the Fitchburg Falcons in a Massachusetts State Collegaite Athletic Conference game at the Parkinson Gymnasium in Fitchburg, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.
Westfield jumped out to 14-4 lead right out of the gate and was never seriously threatened.
Gray finished 9 of 15 shooting from the floor and made 7-10 from long range. She went over the 1200-point barrier for her career, passing former teammate Kierra McCarthy '19 for 11th place on the Owls' all-time scoring list.
Senior guard Chelsea Moussette (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) turned in a strong game with 14 points, nine assists and eight steals, and Isabella Aitken (Pittsfield, Mass) netted 12.
The Owls gradually extended their lead to 18, 39-21 with 5:44 left in 1st half on back to back three- pointers by Gray and Cayla Durkee (Georgetown, Mass.).
Westfield led 50-31 at the half behind 15 from Gray and nine points and five assists from Moussette. Westfield forced 16 Falcon turnovers which the Owls efficiently converted into 23 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Early in the fourth quarter, Westfield led by as many as 29 on a fast-break, look-away eurostep layup from Siobhan Moriarty (Danvers, Mass.), extended that lead to 32 on Gray's seventh three pointer of the game, and put an exclamation point on the win with a 33-point lead a minute later as Moussette drilled a trifecta.
Westfield improves to 10-12 overall and 7-2 in the MASCAC. Steeled by a grueling non-conference schedule, the Owls find themselves in second place in the conference standings and winners of seven of their last nine games.
Fitchburg stoops to 5-16, 3-6 in the MASCAC. Emma Thompson led the Falcons with 14 points, while Angelina Marazzi added 12.
Westfield will be back in action on Wednesday, hosting Bridgewater State in a huge conference game that will impact the top of the conference standings, as the two teams are currently vying for the second-seed in the conference tournament, and the first-round bye that come with the seed.