Wigington Pours in 33 Points, Owls Pull Away from Gordon, 95-78

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore guard Grace Wigington (Lenox, Mass.) racked up a game-high 33 points with six triples and seven steals to lead Westfield State women's basketball to a 95-78 win over Gordon College in the Gordon Classic from Wenham, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls notch consecutive wins in back-to-back nights to get off to a 2-0 start on the season with Wigington shouldering the offensive load in the first half, knocking down five threes in the opening half including the first possession of the game.

Westfield was down four points after the first quarter before ripping off a 30-point frame to lead by nine entering the break. With the Owls ahead 45-43 with a minute to go, Wigington buried a three-pointer, then a turnover and steal by Wigington drew a foul where she connected on two makes. After a missed free throw by Gordon, Tavi Williams (Springfield, Mass.) pulled down the board and found Caroline Galvani (Framingham, Mass.) who beat the halftime buzzer with a layup to take a 52-43 lead at half.

The Owls held a nine-point advantage into the closing minutes of the third quarter before the Fighting Scots trimmed the deficit to one point after a pair of makes at the line by Abby Chewing. Similar to how the second quarter ended, Galvani nailed a momentum-swinging three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Owls a 71-67 lead after three periods.

Galavni's three catapulted the Owls into the fourth quarter where they outscored Gordon by 13 in the frame, thanks in part to a strong defensive effort by holding the opposition to 11 points. Five unanswered points out of the break bumped the lead back to nine points after an Ashley Ames (Valatie, N.Y.) layup followed by a three from Kayley Downie (Easthampton, Mass.).

Westfield held Gordon to just four points over a five-minute span midway through the fourth, allowing the Owls to open a double-digit lead with an 11-4 scoring burst capped by a triple from Galvani to make it an 87-76 lead with 2:06 to go.

The Owls put the game on ice with just over a minute left after a Williams layup followed by a Gordon turnover and conversion from Galvani to stretch the lead to 13 points.

Westfield had four scorers in double figures with forward Alexa Davis (Springfield, Mass.) recording 14 points. Galvani had 12 points and Sophia DeAngelis (Braintree, Mass.) chipped in ten points and six rebounds. Williams filled the stat sheet with a game-high in rebounds (13), assists (7), and steals (6).

Leah McGarvey notched a team-leading 22 points for the Fighting Scots. Sophie Peters had 18 points and seven rebounds.

The Owls had a plus-nine advantage on the glass and piled up 52 points in the paint to the Fighting Scots 28. Westfield ended up with 30 fast break points, taking advantage of 38 Gordon turnovers.

Westfield State will be at Lasell on Wednesday at 7:00 P.M. before returning home to host the Westfield G&E Tip-Off Tournament on Friday and Saturday.