MILTON, Mass. – For most of the fans in attendance at Saturday night's clash between Curry College and Gordon College at Curry's Katz Gymnasium, seeing Curry College junior guard Emily Irwin miss a layup in the game's opening moments must have come as quite a shock.

After all, Irwin entered the game needing just 19 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Missing any shot, let alone a layup, is not what they have been accustomed to seeing. But for Irwin's friends and family in attendance, the missed layup likely served as a good omen. After all, they had seen this happen once before, the last time Irwin was chasing 1,000 points, as a senior at Shawsheen Tech back in 2015.

"The funny thing is the same exact thing happened to me in high school when I was going for one thousand points, where I missed some easy layups early in the game," said the Billerica resident, who has a very large Wilmington-based family. "I couldn't believe it. I think I was just very nervous at the start."

The difference between her 1,000 point game at Shawsheen and Friday's game at Curry was that in the Shawsheen game she needed only four points to reach the milestone. It was a virtual guarantee to happen that night regardless of a couple of missed early shots, and she reached 1,000 points later in the first quarter. Needing 19 points against Gordon on Saturday, however, Irwin was held scoreless in the first half, putting the milestone very much in jeopardy.

But Irwin responded with a sharp shooting second half to score a game high 20 points, the last two coming on a layup with 36 seconds left in the game to give her 1,001 for her career and send Curry fans home happy despite the Colonels 58-49 loss.

For Irwin, two days after hitting the elusive plateau, it all still seemed a little unbelievable.

"I feel like it is still not real," Irwin said. "We didn't have practice yesterday, so it still hasn't really sunk in completely. I am not used to all the publicity. I am not usually one to blow things out of proportion, so this has been a little different for me."

Irwin in fact did not even realize how close she was to the milestone until just days before the game, when Curry coach Fran Elms informed her that she was closing in on the magic number.

"I had no idea until my coach told me after our previous game," Irwin said. "I am still shocked."

Irwin may have been shocked to have reached the 1,000 point plateau as just a junior, but Elms, among others, was anything but surprised to see Irwin accomplish the feat in such a short period of time.

"Emily is an exceptional athlete. She has a tremendous will to win and her work ethic is very strong," Elms said. "There is no quit in her she has played through everything from a broken nose to an injured wrist. You name it. She takes a beating every game because the other team is always gunning for her, but she never stops."

As outstanding a scorer that Irwin is, she has been much more than that for the Colonels as she leads not only the team, but the entire Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) in points per game with 18.3, as well as rebounds (7.8), assists (4.3) and steals (6.1) per game.

It is the second year in a row where she has dominated the league, after leading the circuit last season in points (16.1) and steals (4.4) per game, while finishing second in assists (3.4), and sixth in rebounds (7.2).

"She is a great all-around player," Elms said. "The steals are huge, and she seems to save it for when we need it the most. She just kicks it into a higher gear, and there are very few players who can keep up with her when she does that."

Irwin, who was always an outstanding scorer, credits the increased rigor of the college game for her improved level of play in all areas of the game.

"My whole game has just improved in general," Irwin said. "Playing in college is so much different, because you only get one day off a week, so you have so much more time to work on your game and continue to improve."

As great an all-around player as Irwin is, that is not what fans, friends and family came to see on this night. The focus of the night was on reaching 1,000 points, and Irwin did not disappoint, thrilling all of those in attendance with her big second half. Irwin had a very good reason why she played so much better in the second half.

"I think it was just because I was so angry at myself letting it get to me in the first half," Irwin said. "Coach Elms always says to just let the game come to us, and I wasn't doing that. So in the second half, I just shut everything else off and let the game come to me."

Among those on hand to see Irwin make history were Shawsheen Tech Girls Basketball coach Aimee Sueltenfuss, junior varsity coach Kate Marshall and players from both the varsity and junior varsity girls squads.

The trip had been planned for a couple of months as members of the team made the journey to see not only Irwin, but also Gordon College sophomore guard Meghan Foley, a former player at Mystic Valley. Their presence at the game meant a great deal to Irwin.

"I think knowing they were coming made me really nervous, but it meant so much to me," Irwin said. "Most of those players don't even know me, but they still made the trip to come and watch me and watch Meghan. Hopefully by seeing us play, they can see what can happen if you keep working at your game and keep playing once you get to college."

Sueltenfuss, who was in her first year as head coach of the Lady Rams when Irwin scored her 1,000th point at Shawsheen after serving as an assistant during Irwin's first three years, was thrilled to see her former player achieve the milestone in college as well, and she was especially thrilled to witness it in person.

"We took two vans with 20 girls and myself and Kate Marshall. When (Emily's) mom let me know last week that she was close it made this game even more important. She is a great player who really makes things happen," Sueltenfuss said. "When she was scoreless in the first half and with 19 points to go I said to her mom she can do it still.

"I know her game play and knew her team was down so she was going to take it to the hoop. The best part about her as a person and player is after the game when we were congratulating her she said "yeah it was awesome but the team lost so I am upset." It always was about team for her and that part of her is a huge plus when you are a coach."

As Sueltenfuss said, Irwin has always been a team first player her entire career, and that continues to this day Curry, as Irwin looks forward to the rest of this season with the Colonels looking to improve on their 9-8 record and make a push for the CCC playoffs.

"I think we are looking good," Irwin said. "We are a little bit young, but we are starting to bet some teams we haven't beaten in the past. I see good things for us going forward."

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(Article Courtesy of Mike Ippolito, Wilmington Town Crier)