Lucy Barrett Named MASCAC Player of the Year

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Westfield State senior guard Lucy Barrett (Mt. Greylock HS/Williamstown, Mass.) has been named the 2018-19 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball player of the year, highlighting three Owls selected to the all-conference teams.

Barrett was a first-team selection, while senior forward Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow, Mass.) and sophomore forward Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) were both named to the second team.

"All three players had incredible seasons," said Westfield State head coach Andrea Bertini.  "I think it's tremendous for them and our program to see the hard work and commitment pay off for them and our entire team."

Barrett is the leading scorer in the conference at 19.1 points per game.  She also leads the league in free throw percentage (88.8 percent), a stat she in which she currently ranks third in the nation, and in steals, at 3.0 per game.

Barrett currently ranks seventh on the Owls all-time scoring list with more than 1,300 career points.

"I've never had a player who transformed as much from year one to year four as Lucy Barrett," said Bertini. " She came back better each season and improved in so many parts of her game, and the way she maximized her ability.   Individually, she's one of the best scorers in program history.   She's not the most athletic player we've had, but she's physically strong and finishes at the hoop, and she worked for that."

McCarthy earns all-conference honors for the second time in her career, as she was a second-team all-league pick in 2017-18.   She's the seventh leading scorer in the conference at 13.9 points per game, and ranks in the top 10 in steals (2.1), field goal percentage (42.9), and three point field goal percentage (39.5), and offensive rebounds (2.9).  McCarthy currently sits 11^th in career scoring at Westfield with more than 1,100 points, and she earned USBWA National Player of the Week honors earlier this season.

Gray earned all-conference honors for the first time.  She ranks second on the team and fourth in the league at 17.1 points per game.  She leads the conference with 3.2 3 point field goals per game, and ranks in the top 10 in the nation in several three-point shooting categories.

Westfield State is currently 18-9 overall.  The Owls were the MASCAC regular-season co-champions, and won the league's postseason for the fourth straight season.   Westfield will travel to Gettysburg, Pa., to face Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III national championship tournament on Friday at 5:30 p.m.