Gray, Owls Power Past Pilgrims, 82-63

WESTFIELD, Mass. –     Westfield State senior Melissa Gray scored 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had four steals to lead Westfield State to an 82-63 win over New England College in a non-conference game at the Woodward Center on Tuesday evening.

Gray shot 9-18 from the floor and 4-7 from long range as the Owls picked up their first win of the season and are now 1-5 overall.   New England College dips to 5-4.

New England College grabbed a 2-0 lead right out of the gate on a layup by Asia Jones, but that was the lone lead of the evening for the Pilgrims.  Gray drilled a three pointer on the ensuing possession to give the Owls a lead that they would maintain throughout the contest.

Westfield led 43-31 at the half.  Westfield boosted the lead to as many as 20 points, at 68-48 on a Gray layup with 9:47 left in the fourth quarter.

New England chipped away at the lead, twice getting it down to a few as ten points, the last at 5:23 of the fourth on a Jones layup.   Westfield's Paris Wilkey hit a three pointer to boost the lead back to 15 with 4:41 left in the game.

The Owls forced 40 turnovers from the Pilgrims, and came up with 27 steals.

Wilkey was the only other Owl to score in double-figures with 13 points, and 13 different Owls players scored.

New England College was led by 14 points and 12 rebounds from Kayla Goldring.  Brianna Pierreval added 13 points and seven rebounds and  Andrea Smellie had 13 points and six boards for the Pilgrims.

Westfield will be back in action on Thursday evening, hosting local rival Springfield College at 7:00 p.m. at the Woodward Center.

New England College will next host Emerson on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.