By Kim J. Harmon

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – One thousand points.

It is the benchmark of all great basketball careers and Lisa Masella – a 2002 graduate of Newtown High School – reached it during a 16-point effort on Sunday, November 20, that lifted the Western New England College women’s basketball team to a 72-50 win over Plattsburgh State.

Entering the 2005-06 season, Masella had 983 points and 757 rebounds and while she has her 1,000th career point (which was recognized on Tuesday, December 6, right before the Golden Bears took on Western Connecticut State University) she needs 194 more rebounds to reach 1,000 for the double whammy.

A distinct possibility.

“Whoever thought I would do something like this?”

It was a rhetorical question asked on Tuesday night, but one that deserved an answer – no one. In middle school and in the early stages of her high school career, Masella had the height (you can’t teach that) but was gangly and uncoordinated. It was only through hard work that she developed into one of the top centers in the South-West Conference before taking her game onto the collegiate level.

“It’s an amazing accomplishment,” Masella said shortly after canning 13 points and grabbing six rebounds in a 65-40 win over WCSU (where Jayme Beckham, a 2001 graduate of Newtown High School, is now an assistant coach). “But I never would have gotten here without my teammates.

Like fellow co-captain Jess Harrica, who had dished off 20 assists before getting hurt in the opening round of the Pioneer Valley Women’s Hoop Classic. And teammates Jennifer Dabrowski and Tiffany DeRosa average – together – nearly six assists per game.

Masella has taken the second-most shots on the team (59) and cans an amazing .593 percent of those shots while averaging 11.3 points per game in about 26 minutes of action.

“Without the support from my teammates and my parents,” said Masella, “I never would have gotten his.”

WNEC is 5-2 under first-year head coach Nicole Chaszar, former co-captain of the Temple University women’s basketball team who has taken over for the departed Wendy Davis, and Masella loves how things have gone so far.

“She’s very positive and motivational,” the 6-0 senior center said. “She is a different type of coach than I have had and it is really paying off.”

Masella had a modest start to the season, dropping in nine points and pulling down seven rebounds in a 67-57 win over Colby-Sawyer. Against Plattsburgh, she nailed down 16 points – putting her at 1,008 for her career – and pulled down 11 boards.

In a 56-54 loss to Fitchburg State, Masella only had eight points and three rebounds in 19 minutes of action and in a 65-40 win over Amherst, she popped in eight points and grabbed six rebounds as Dabrowski led the way with 13 points.

That little slump aside – and with Harrica hurt – Masella scored in double figures in the next three WNEC games … a 55-46 loss to nationally-ranked Springfield College, a 65-40 win over WCSU, and a 61-48 win over Skidmore College.

Against Skidmore, she poured in 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Her efforts had her team at 5-2 before the Golden Bears were pounded by Brandeis, 63-38, on Saturday. In 13 minutes of action, Masella was held scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting.

The Bears finished 19-8 a year ago and reached the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semi-finals and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) quarterfinals.

Masella thinks the Bears could do just as well.

“We can do great things,” she said, “as long as people keep a real positive attitude and just stay focused.”

Masella maintains a positive attitude off the court, as well, and with activities and accolades almost too numerous to mention (but to mention a few, she is a Resident Assistant, a freshman seminar assistant, a member of the Senior Honor Society, and is in the process of producing a video on the WNEC athletic department) she recently was presented with the prestigious New England College Skookum Award.

The Skookum was presented by the school’s Alumni Association to only 15 of the 2,400 full-time undergraduate students.