Westfield Holds Top Pair in Grant and Hadla

WESTFIELD MA — Hard work and dedication has prevailed as both Olivia Hadla (Westfield, MA) and Jordan Grant (Gray, ME) have made their mark on Westfield State women's basketball history by both hitting the 1,000-point mark in the this season.

Their paths to 1,000 points may look a bit different, but through COVID, transferring, and injuries, two Owls are forever entwined in Westfield State women's basketball history.

On February 7, Grant drilled a jumper in the lane at Fitchburg State to eclipse 1000.

"Hitting a 1,000 felt so good." Grant said, "You put so much time and effort into playing basketball, and it's definitely not easy being a student athlete, so it was very rewarding and made me really happy to have my team there with me."

In Hadla's eyes, the feat had the same feeling, "It was very relieving because I've just put in a lot of work. Just to be able to do that and get to have my name up on the banners is really cool," Hadla said, "Being able to hit that shot was awesome and it was a great feeling, I'm very happy."

Hadla hit the mark on Jan. 24 with a three-pointer in a win over Salem State at the Woodward Center.   Just 14 days separated the duo hitting the 1000-point plateau.

Grant and Hadla became the first pair of Owls players to reach 1000 in the same season of what is effectively their 'junior' year, as the pair of seniors had an bumpy start to their college career - but were still able to accomplish the feat that only eighteen other Westfield State women's players completed.

COVID's Long reach

Entering college in the fall of 2020, at the peak of COVID pandemic, Hadla and Grant's first year of college looked a bit different than normal.  The team was only able to have six practices before the school would shut down all in-person activities due to pandemic protocols.

Grant was relective on how those six practices influenced her.

 "Covid year was awful," she said. "We all had to stay distant, we had masks on, we couldn't even scrimmage. No games. I think we played pickups maybe one time. I feel like that was really disappointing because I feel like your freshman year impacts the rest of your career."

Grant went on to say, "It was definitely really hard and one of the reasons why I left was because I thought that maybe it would be like that the whole time. And I wasn't sure if we were ever going to get back to normal."

A 1,000 Mile Journey For Grant 

During the fall of 2021, her sophomore year, Grant transferred to Palm Beach Atlantic in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"I thought that I wanted to be done with basketball and kind of take my career more seriously," she said, "My brother also went there and I wanted to be closer to him".

In that same fall, athletics returned to normal as the Owls began their 2021-2022 campaign. Even being 1,363 miles away, Grant recalls still checking up on her old team. "I definitely missed it and reached out to Coach [Bertini] and just wished them good luck".

Westfield State head coach Andrea Bertini remembers texting with Grant after she had left, "Do you miss basketball? Like we could really use you," Bertini said to Grant, "We don't have anybody like you."

After finishing her fall semester out at Palm Beach, Grant packed up all her belongings and made her way back to Westfield State where she helped the Owls finish out the second half of the season.

The Owls were just 3-7 at the semester break before Grant re-entered the picture, and Westfield went 12-5 the rest of the way, advancing to the conference semifinals.

"It's one of the best re-recruiting jobs I have ever done," Bertini recalls.

Hadla Close to Home

For Hadla, a Westfield, Mass. native, COVID is what brought her to Westfield State initially.

Hadla had plans to attend Western New England, but when COVID struck Hadla said "It was the best choice to stay home, do online school and see where I would then venture off to if I did end up leaving," she remembers, "Thankfully I stayed and I'm very grateful that I stayed. Because I've met so many cool people and I've just had an awesome time playing on the team".

Coach Bertini recalls when Hadla first joined the team, "We kept recruiting, as we thought she was headed somewhere else, but then she called us very late in the process and told me she was coming to Westfield."

Grant and Hadla have been the Owls top scoring duo in the last two seasons, but to reach 1,000 points was not something that they had imagined themselves doing when they had first arrived at Westfield State.

Grant recalls that, "When I transferred back here I had a late start so I definitely didn't think that I was going to be able to hit that, I didn't think I was going to have enough time in my career here."

For Hadla, her role initially had not been to score.

"My sophomore year, I was a point guard and I wasn't really in a scoring role, so I wasn't thinking about hitting 1,000." 

Later in that season Coach Bertini had moved her to shooting guard and the idea was placed in Hadla's head.

In Coach Bertini's words, "I think what they have done is really remarkable. To do it as fast as they've done it and as few games and when you take into account that they missed an entire season of basketball because of COVID. And in Jordan's case it was a season and a half." she continued, "The fact that they've both been able to do it in such a short amount of time, really speaks to how hard they've worked at it over the years".

To hit 1,000 points takes a lot of hard work and dedication, something that the two of them have prided themselves in putting forward - and something that people around them noticed as well.

"[Olivia] is just absolutely in the gym all the time," said Bertini.  "She's coming into Westfield all summer when the gym is open. She's just worked so hard at it." 

Hadla is creeping up several records boards for the Owls, where she is sixth in career three pointers (169) and 11^th in career steals.

"And for Jordan, she's in this building all the time, she's lifting year round, she's working on her game and she's improving her guard skills," Bertini said. "You see her Euro-step on another forward and that's not common."

Grant is entered the year ranked second on the Owls career field goal percentage list, connecting on better than 50 percent of her shots, and is seventh in career scoring average.

"I think that we just push each other and that we work really well together," said Hadla. "Us pushing each other and expecting high standards from each other and ourselves just allowed us to grow and get better as individuals as well as together and as a team."

Outside of basketball, the "close knit community" as Grant described, drew her to Westfield State. For Hadla, her favorite part of Westfield State is the people. "Everyone that I've met and all the connections I've made," she said, "those are the people that I'm going to want in my life forever."

Hadla was not able to play the day due to illness the day that Grant topped the 1000-point mark at Fitchburg, but insisted on traveling to the game to see and celebrate her teammate's accomplishment.

Both were recognized on the Owls senior day with teammates Jordyn Lummus, Lindsey Bohenko, and Mia Angelina Leslie, but Grant chose to let her teammates have the honor of starting that day.

Though they celebrated senior day, there may be some bad news in the future for Owls opponents – due to the pandemic, both Grant and Hadla have another year of collegiate eligibility if they choose to return to school.

What's Next

After graduating from Westfield State, the two plan to share their knowledge and love for the game.

As a movement science major with a concentration in physical education, Hadla hopes to become a PE teacher at a middle or elementary school and coach on the side.

"I would like to teach for as long as I can and see where the coaching on the side goes" she said, "But my final destination would be coaching a college basketball team."

Grant is an exercise science major with a minor in coaching. After graduating, Grant's long term goal is to work in a gym where she can become a personal trainer in basketball and help people get to the college level.

As the Owls closed out the regular season with a win over Salem State. The goal from the beginning of the season is still on the horizon for the Owls.

"The biggest goal is to win MASCAC," said both Grant and Hadla, who were on the court for a heart-breaking loss in the conference championship game in 2023.  "Ever since we lost that game [last year] it has been our biggest goal," said Hadla, "Scoring records are cool, but MASCAC championships are cooler."

The dynamic duo has led the Owls to a 16-9 overall record this season, and the #3 seed in the conference tournament.  The Owls will begin their quest for a MASCAC championship at home on Tuesday February 20 at 5:30 pm against Fitchburg State.  The Owl men follow with a playoff game at 7:30 p.m.

 -written by Jordan Aguiar, sports information intern