Westfield, MA – The Sage College's senior tri-captain Megan Flynn (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) scored 24 points and grabbed a Sage single-game record with 25 rebounds to lead the Gators to an 87-84 win over Westfield State in a non-conference women's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.
Flynn finished with a career-high 24 points and broke Sage's single-game rebounding mark with her 25 rebounds for her 10th career double-double. She surpassed the single game record held by Jocelyn Naples (twice) in 1994 and 1996. Flynn's 25 rebounds ties the Empire 8 single-game rebounding record as well as she is tied with RIT's Lauren Long (25 vs. Alfred, 1/29/2000) for the most rebounds in a game. Flynn bettered her career-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds as well in the contest.
Sage (3-5) led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, but Westfield provided a desperate rally to get back in contention late, trimming the lead all the way down to a single point, 85-84 on a Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation.
The Owls were forced to foul, and Flynn converted a pair of free throws with two seconds left for the final margin, as Westfield was unable to get off a desperation three as time expired.
Sage led 49-38 at the half after outscoring the Owls 27-13 in the second quarter as Westfield went cold from the floor, connecting on just five of 26 shots and just 1-11 from three-point range. The Gators were led by 11 points from senior guard Gessica Patregnani (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) and got eight points and 13 rebounds in the opening half from Flynn.
Westfield got nine first-half points from Chelsea Moussette (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire), who connected on 3-5 from long range.
Sage shot 60 percent from the floor (20-33) in the opening half.
Sage extended its lead all the way to 17 points and 64-47 on layup from Flynn with 2:28 left in the third quarter, and led 66-52 heading to the fourth quarter.
Westfield rallied midway through the fourth quarter, getting a steal and a three-pointer from Gray, then a another steal that led to a Gray layup to cut the lead to just 4 points at 75-71.
The Gators boosted the lead back to 11, going 5-6 at the line and getting a jumper from Powell.
Westfield (3-5) wasn't done, sawing back into the lead with pressure defense and getting it down to three points, 82-79 on a free throw from Siobhan Moriarty (Danvers, Mass.). The Owls garnered the offensive rebound and got a clean look at a three pointer that could have tied the game from Gray with 38 seconds left but the shot wouldn't go down.
Westfield forced 51 turnovers (the second most in school history) from the Gators, which the Owls converted into 48 points, but Sage held a 66-37 advantage in rebounds. The Gators shot 51.8 percent from the floor in the game, and held off the Owls' rally with tremendous free throw shooting, connecting on 22 of 25 (88.8 percent) for the game.
Patregnani finished with 20 points and was a perfect 5-of-5 from three point range. Junior forward Madasyn Bush (Watervliet, NY/Watervliet) added 15, and sophomore Meghan Murray (Pottersville, NY/North Warren) chipped in nine points and 14 rebounds for the Gators.
Westfield was led by 22 points from Gray, who endured a rugged shooting day, connecting on 7-25 from the floor and 3-18 from long range. Gray did most of her damage late, with 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Gray finished with 14 steals, setting an Owls' single game record (one better than Jen Ashton's 13 against UMass Boston in 2011).
Moussette added 14 points and Alison Mendel (Adams, Mass./Hoosac) 12 for the Owls, who have dropped five straight after a 3-0 start to the season.
Westfield State launched a single-game record 58 three-point tries, but connected on 13 in shooting just 22 percent from behind the arc.
Flynn checks in with 610 career points, while adding 485 rebounds. She is now 9th all-time in career rebounding, while moving closer to cracking the program's Top 20 list in scoring. Patregnani moved into the No. 4 spot in career three-pointers made with 192 as she moved past Carly Vallee (126, 2009-2013) on Saturday. Patregnani also has 584 career points in her time at Sage. Last week, Patregnani ranked second nationally in three-point field goal percentage. After Saturday's effort, she has improved her season three-point field goal percentage to 68.8% having converted 22-of-32 three pointers and could move into the No. 1 spot nationally in the category with the release of the newest NCAA Division III statistics on Monday.
Sage will travel to face Coast Guard on Monday, December 30 at 5:30 p.m.
