WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior forward Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) had a historic game for the Owls, as she drained a school-record 10 three-pointers en route to a 37-point night which included the 1,000th of her career, as Westfield downed Fitchburg State 106-76 in MASCAC women's basketball at the Woodward Center on Thursday night.
Westfield improves to 2-1 in the MASCAC and 5-10 overall, while Fitchburg slips to 2-1 in the league and 4-11 overall.
Gray netted her 1,000th career point on a layup late in the second quarter, as the Owls edged away for a 47-39 halftime lead.
Westfield shot a blistering 44 percent from behind the arc for the game, as the Owls connected on a team-record 22 three pointers in the game on a school-record tying 55 attempts from downtown. Gray was 10-15 from behind the arc, which broke the 26-year old record of nine three pointers in a game set by current Owls' head coach Andrea Bertini as a player when she was 9-21 from behind the arc in an ECAC playoff game against Norwich University in 1994.
Gray finished with a career best 37 points, with seven rebounds, five steals and five assists. She becomes the 18th woman in Westfield State history to score 1,000 career points, and now has 1,023, good for 17th on the list. The 37 points are the fourth best-single game output for an Owl in school-history.
The Owls also got standout performances from Isabella Aitken (Pittsfield, Mass.) who scored a career best 27 points (two days after netting a career-high 26 vs. Worcester State) on 5-12 shooting from long range, and from senior point guard Chelsea Moussette (Southampton, Mass.) who facilitated the three-point barrage with a dozen assists while scoring 19 points and grabbing seven rebounds and four steals, narrowly missing a triple double. Alison Mendel (Adams, Mass.) added 13 points.
The Owls 106 points were nearly a season best for the Owls' "system" attack, which has led the nation in scoring each of the last two seasons.
Westfield steadily pulled away, leading 71-56 after three quarters.
Fitchburg was led by 24 points from Emma Thomson and got 19 points and seven rebounds from Angelina Marazzi. Catherine Coppinger grabbed 16 rebounds for the Falcons.
Westfield State will be back in action on Saturday with a 1:00 tip off at Bridgewater State in another MASCAC conference game.