NEPA Basketball: "Montrose Graduates Have Western New England Women Rolling"
January 18, 2018 - Meghan Gilhool had found many other ways to contribute to the Western New England women's basketball team, but she had never scored in double figures when she took the floor Dec. 29 against Framingham State.
Less than three weeks later, the junior guard was Montrose is practically making a habit of it.
Gilhool broke through, more than doubling her previous career-high, with 19 points in the 90-89, overtime loss to Framingham State.
The increased scoring output continued when Gilhool scored in double figures in consecutive wins Saturday and Tuesday. Her most recent effort included another career first with a double-double.
Gilhool went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and made all 5 of her fouls shots while scoring 14 points in Saturday's 70-62 road win over the University of New England. She went 8-for-10 from the floor, including 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, while scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in just 25 minutes during Tuesday's 83-57 rout of Wentworth.
Western New England features a combination of Montrose graduates in prominent positions.
Nicole Chaszar, who followed up her career with the Lady Meteors by playing NCAA Division I basketball at Temple University where she served as team captain, is the head coach.
Western New England is 6-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference and 10-5 overall.
The Golden Bears have won their last three games, all in a six-day stretch, starting with a 51-40 win over Curry.
Saturday's game represented the first conference loss of the season for first-place University of New England.
Gilhool had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the win.
Tuesday's win was the 199th of Chaszar's 12-year career. The Golden Bears finished with winning records in 9 of her 11 seasons, coming into this season, making her the school's all-time leader in coaching wins and winning percentage.
Gilhool's double-double led the win.
In her last 6 games, Gilhool is averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds. In that stretch, she has shot 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) on 3-pointers and 9-for-11 (81.8) from the foul line.
Just 5-foot-7, Gilhool is the team's leading offensive rebounder and second-leading rebounder overall.
Gilhool averages 7.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists on the season. She is shooting 45.2 percent from the floor, 45.9 percent on 3-pointers and 66.7 percent from the foul line.
At Montrose, Gilhool played four years of basketball, soccer and track and field. She helped the Lady Meteors to the state Class 2A semifinals as a freshman and was Lackawanna League Division 4 Player of the Year as a senior.
Gilhool averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 29 games as a freshman at Western New England. As a sophomore, she started in 3 of her 28 games and averaged 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds. She has started all 15 games this season.
Chaszar has taken her team to the playoffs 11 straight times, going 199-141 for a .585 winning percentage.
At Temple, Chaszar was a four-time Atlantic 10 All-Academic selection, a two-year team captain and the team Most Valuable Player her senior season.
Chaszar spent two years at Springfield College and two seasons at the University of Rhode Island as an assistant coach. She then returned to Springfield, Mass. when she landed the head coaching job at Western New England.
