Westfield Seeks Senior Day Victory Against Fitchburg
Owls look to gain momentum heading into tournament play against Falcons
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State seeks a win in their final regular season game against Fitchburg State, at noon on Saturday in the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. Tomorrow is also senior day as the women's basketball team will be recognizing five seniors prior to the opening tip-off: Jordan Halgas, Isabella Aitken, Paris Wilkey, Jenn Rennich, and Melissa Gray.
Westfield stands at 13-11 and 7-4 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference while Fitchburg is 2-20 and 1-10 in conference play. Both teams dropped their previous games to Bridgewater State as the Owls have not played since last Saturday. Fitchburg will attempt to snap an eight-game losing streak that was originally started by the Owls on January 26.
Westfield State won the previous matchup 100-56, led by sophomore Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) who collected 17 points. Aitken (Pittsfield, Mass.) added 16 points of her own, while sinking four three pointers. Rylie Harlow (Hanson, Mass.) led the Falcons with 13 points and nine rebounds in the contest.
Gray (Peabody, Mass.) is coming off a season-high 33-point performance against Bridgewater. Gray is averaging 3.7 steals per game this season, and she is just three steals shy of passing Holly Maines for the second most in program history.
Fitchburg's leading scorer Jadelen Harold (Nantucket, Mass.) dropped 15 points and six rebounds in the loss to Bridgewater State on Wednesday. Allison Prentis (Mansfield, Mass.) made four threes to chip in 12 points off the bench.
Along with the senior festivities, Westfield State will participate in the Think Pink initiative during Saturday's game to raise breast cancer awareness in the community. At the end of the third quarter of both the women's and men's games, there will be a "Stand Up to Cancer" initiative that spectators will be allowed to participate in.
Westfield State will enter the MASCAC tournament as the third overall seed regardless of the outcome of the game tomorrow due to tiebreaking scenarios that the Owls have with Worcester State, which is the fourth seeded team in the conference (Tiebreaker would only come into play should the Owls lose). The Owls will host a MASCAC quarterfinals game on Tuesday, February 22 with the opponent and time still to be determined.