Bio

One of the top all-around players in the history of the Owls women’s basketball team, Jennifer Ashton graduated with 1,524 career points, second on the Owls all-time list at the time of her graduation, and third at the time of her induction.

With an uncanny knack for knowing where the ball would go, Ashton graduated as the Owls steal leader with 440 – more than 120 more than the next player on the list.

In 112 games played, Owl teams were 71-41 in her tenure, including a record-breaking 2015 season where the Owls finished 24-6, the most wins in a season in the history of the program, and advanced to the ECAC New England Tournament championship game.

She ranks in the program’s Top 10 all time for games played, points, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, free-throw percentage, assists, steals, and blocks.

Ashton set Owls single-season record for steals (126) and steal average (4.84), and set single game records for both steals (13) and assists (13).

Ashton was named the MASCAC player of the year as a senior, conference rookie of year as a freshman and was a four-time all conference selection with two first-team picks.   She was both a NEWBA and ECAC All-New England All Star, and a D3Hoops.com All-Northeast Region pick as a senior.

She also played on the Owls fledgling women’s golf program all four years.

She was honored with Westfield State’s John Kurty Award after her senior year for her four-year contributions to Owls’ athletics.

A dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, Jen went overseas to play professional basketball, playing in England for three years with Sheffield and Leicester before spending her final professional season in Sweden. She averaged nearly 10 points per game, four rebounds, five assists and 2.5 steals per game, and was twice named to the league’s all-defensive team along with several weekly and monthly honors.

She was selected for the Great Britain national team training camp in 2017.

After graduating from Westfield she served one year as an assistant coach at D2 AIC, and also coached high school JV basketball.

Ashton currently works as a court officer, and she is a patched referee for men’s basketball and is working her way through the officiating ranks, having called games as high as the collegiate level.

Jennifer is the proud mother of a newborn baby Owen, and resides in Haverhill with her partner Sean McCarthy.