Owls Launch Past MCLA, 79-50

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Liana Wheelock-Bonet (Vernon, Conn.) buried a triple on the record-setting 64th three-point attempt for Westfield State which soared past MCLA 79-50 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls get back in the win column after consecutive losses, improving to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the MASCAC and after today's games are currently tied with Worcester State for third place in the league standings. The Trailblazers fall to 0-15 overall and 0-9 in the conference.

The 64 three-pointers attempted topped the previous program record of 63 set in February of 2020 also against MCLA.

Westfield used an incredibly balanced scoring attack to cruise to victory, reaching 79 points without a double figure scorer. 13 different Owls got in the scoring column with four players tying the team-lead with nine points. Tavi Williams (Springfield, Mass.) registered nine points, 11 rebounds, and five steals. Caroline Galvani (Framingham, Mass.) tied the team high in steals with six to go along with nine points. Jailyn Garvin-Martin (Springfield, Mass.) added six steals.

Hailey Peabody carried the Trailblazers offense, piling up a game-high 26 points on 12-17 shooting from the field, recording ten rebounds to secure the double-double. Dakota Quick entered double figures with 11 points and Amare Williams grabbed ten rebounds and six points.

A slow start for the Owls allowed the Trailblazers to build an early lead after a Dakota Quick three-pointer opened an 8-3 advantage with 5:16 left in the quarter.

Westfield responded by ripping off a 16-0 run over the next five minutes fueled by several forced turnovers in the backcourt. After a free throw from Cameron Bradford (Hanover, Mass.), a pair of steals on the inbound led to consecutive layups for Alexa Davis (Springfield, Mass.) tying the game at eight apiece.

Garvin-Martin gave the Owls the lead with a layup, then Morgan Berthiaume (Webster, Mass.) lofted a floater in the paint, got fouled, and scored through the contact for a three-point play and a five-point lead.

Back-to-back threes from Sophia Rockwood (Windsor, Vt.) and Garvin-Martin pushed the lead into double digits with 1:58 to play in the period. A layup from Peabody stalled the run, giving the Owls a nine-point lead after one quarter. Westfield generated 14 turnovers in the opening frame.

Kayley Downie (Easthampton, Mass.) started the second quarter the same way she began the first, nailing a corner three for Westfield's first points of the second. The Owls extended the lead to 14 points with a lay-in from Berthiaume, holding MCLA scoreless for the beginning 3:39 of the second stanza before Peabody converted a layup.

Later in the half, Williams secured an offensive rebound and scored a layup and on the next possession drained a wing triple to push the lead to 18 points at 32-14 with 4:59 left until the break. Ashley Ames (Valatie, N.Y.) added five points down the stretch and on the final two possessions of the half, Davis stole and scored a layup, then buried a deep three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to drive the lead up to 24 points at the break.

The Owls large first half lead was built on defense and turnovers, forcing the Trailblazers into 26 turnovers which resulted in 30 points from those takeaways. Berthiaume swiped four passes in the half while Davis and Rockwood each scored nine points. Ten different Owls scored in the opening 20 minutes.

Peabody scored 19 of MCLA's 22 points in the first half on an ultra-efficient 9-12 shooting from the floor. She added nine rebounds to her stat line.

Westfield outscored MCLA by three points in the second half to maintain their sizeable lead for their sixth conference win of the campaign.

The Owls were two steals off the single-game program record of 37, set on three separate occasions over the last three years. Westfield forced 51 turnovers, leading to 42 points off turnovers.

Westfield State will play their final regular season road game on Wednesday as the Owls travel to Anna Maria for a 5:00 P.M. tip-off. MCLA will also travel to Anna Maria for their next game, in a rescheduled game from earlier in the season, on Monday at 5:00 P.M.