Hump Day: Camels Hold Off Westfield, 89-70

WESTFIELD, Mass. –  Senior guard Sami Ashton (Clinton, Conn./Morgan School) scored 23 points and handed out eight assists to lead Connecticut College to an 89-70 win over Westfield State in a non-conference women's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Wednesday night.

The Camels held a narrow lead for much of the game, then pulled away from Westfield late, with the Camels outscoring the Owls 22-9 in the fourth quarter.

Conn College used stellar ball movement on the offensive end throughout the game, handing out 28 assists n 33 field goals.  The Camels started fast, connecting on 5-8 three pointers in the first quarter and shot nearly 42 percent behind the arc for the game, finishing 13-31 from long range, including 5-8 from downtown for Ashton.

Westfield State was led by a standout performance from junior forward Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) who scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds with three steals.  Gray made seven of her first eight three point attempts in the game, but cooled off late to finish 7-15 from long range.

Westfield State point guard Chelsea Moussette (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire) had her third straight game of 10+ assists, handing out 11 assists while adding eight points.   Westfield's Siobhan Moriarty (Danvers, Mass.) added nine points and Jordan Halgas (Ware, Mass.) seven.

The Camels got scoring support from Ashley Howe (Saco, Maine/Thornton Acad.), who added 17 points on 5-9 shooting from three-point range, and nine points from Dana Muckstat (Dover, Mass./Dover-Sherborn.

Westfield State is now 6-11 overall, while Conn College improves to 6-10.  The loss stops a three game win streak for the Owls, who will return to action with a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game vs Salem State at the Woodward Center on Saturday with a noon tip off.