Regis Women’s Hoop Falls in Home Opener

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College attempted to keep up with the quick pace set by Westfield State, but the Owls hit almost half of their three-point field goal attempts and continually pressured the Pride offense, leading to a 103-84 victory for Westfield State Wednesday night in a non-conference women's collegiate basketball game at Higgins Court.

Sam D'Angelo (Woburn, Mass.) led the Pride in scoring with 22 points, shooting 8-of-10 from the field, plus she earned seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Valerie Martin (Derry, N.H.) finished with 15 points, Nikki Bitinaitis (Cromwell, Conn.) contributed nine points, six rebounds, and nine assists, and Katryna Veasey (Quincy, Mass.) added eight points, 11 rebounds, and two blocked shots.

After Regis took a 7-6 lead two minutes into the contest, Westfield State put together an 18-7 scoring run to establish a double-digit advantage. Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) hit a three-pointer late in the opening quarter, but the Owls responded with a three-pointer and two free throws from Melissa Gray to pull ahead, 29-18, after the first quarter.

The Pride put together an 11-2 scoring run in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter, led by six points from Martin and capped by a three-pointer by Maura Russell (Braintree, Mass.), to close to within nine at halftime, 54-45. However, Westfield State scored the first 11 points of the third quarter, led by Lucy Barrett with seven of those points, to extend its lead to 65-45 three minutes into the second half.

Westfield State (3-1) used a 7-0 run, including five points by Gray, to close the third quarter with its largest lead of the night at 89-61. Regis scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and outscored the Owls in the final 10 minutes, 23-14.

Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Owls, led by Gray with 24 points and five rebounds and Barrett with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Alyssa Camara hit 6-of-7 shots from the field as she scored 15 points, Kierra McCarthy contributed 14 points and four rebounds, and Allison Hester added 11 points to the winning effort.

As a team, Westfield State shot 43.0 percent (37-of-86) from the field, including 15-of-31 from behind the three-point line, and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line. The Owls dished out 24 assists while committing only 14 turnovers, and they scored 38 points off Regis turnovers.

The Pride did enjoy their best shooting night of the young season, hitting 49.1 percent (28-of-57) of their field goal attempts as well as 68.6 percent (24-of-35) of their free throw opportunities. Regis won the rebounding battle, 50-35, including 11 offensive boards that led to 16 second chance points.

Regis (0-4) will have almost two weeks away from competition before a stretch of three games in five days, starting with a home contest against Fitchburg State Tuesday, Dec. 11, starting at 6 p.m. Westfield State heads to the Big Apple to face NYU Saturday, Dec. 1, at 1 p.m.