The Framingham State Rams and Westfield State Owls are set to meet in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship game on Saturday after winning their respective semifinal contests Thursday night.

Framingham State 67, Bridgewater State 62 Box Score

Framingham, Mass.- The Framingham State women's basketball team defeated Bridgewater State in the semi-final round of the 2016 MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament with a 67-62 thriller at a energetic Athletic Center Gymnasium Thursday evening. The Rams improve to 19-6 and advance to face #1 Westfield State on Saturday afternoon for the MASCAC Championship. The Bears fall to 13-13 on the season.

The Rams were led by junior Monta Connolly (Lynn, Mass.) who registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebound shooting 6-of-9 from the field. Quinn O'Connell (Sterling, Mass.) added 12 points from the bench contributing to two of the Rams seven treys on the evening. Junior Alycia Rackliffe (Feeding Hills, Mass.) registered a game-high 14 rebounds while adding 8 points.

Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) scored a game-high 22 points for the Bears. Jennie Lindland (Edgartown, Mass.) registered a double-double scoring 17 points and collecting 10 rebounds while Jennifer Whyte (Braintree, Mass.) scored 15 points off the bench for the visitors.

Both teams traded leads early and often through the first half. An O'Connell buzzer-beater to close the 2^nd quarter sent the teams to the break with the Bears leading 33-32.

Coming out of the break the Bears scored the first basket but the Rams then spun off a 12-1 run spanning nearly seven minutes to take a ten point advantage. The Bears clawed their way back into the game and recaptured the lead early in the final quarter on a Whyte layup just over two minutes into the frame. A moment later a Connolly layup followed up by an O'Connell three-pointer swung the momentum back in favor of the hosts.  

Whyte again broke the Rams momentum hitting a trey of her own with 3:48 to play to cut the Rams lead to 59-56. After missed layups by both sides Connolly was fouled and made both of her free throws to push the lead to 5. The next possession Rams sophomore Raegan Mulherin (Baldwinville, Mass.) sunk a three with just over two minutes to play to give the Rams a 64-56 advantage that the Bears would not be able to recover from.

The Rams were helped by their good shooting going 42% from the field and 41% from long range. The Bears were 35% from the floor and 25% from beyond the arc. The Bears did have the advantage in the turnover department forcing 20 turnovers by the Rams to just 12 for Bridgewater.

Westfield State 85, MCLA 48 Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. --   Senior Forbasaw Nkamebo (Amherst/Amherst, Mass.) scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to propel Westfield State to an 85-48 in the semifinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament at the Woodward Center on Thursday evening.

Top-seeded Westfield improves to 19-7 and will host second-seeded Framingham State, a 67-62 winner over Bridgewater State tonight, in the MASCAC Championship game on Saturday at 1:00 on Saturday.  The league champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national championship tournament.

The Owls jumped out of the gate quickly, getting a steal from Jill Valley (Mahar/Orange, Mass.) on the opening possession of the game and quickly scoring a layup at the other end.

Westfield forced five MCLA turnovers in the first 3:47 of play.   Westfield punctuated the smothering defensive pressure with a huge block from Nkamebo, on which Valley scooped up the loose ball rebound, and scampered coast to coast for a layup and a 18-2 Owls lead early.

 Westfield led 25-6 at the end of the 1^st quarter, and 47-14 at the half.

Valley, the MASCAC player of the year, had an uncharacteristically quiet scoring game, finishing with nine points but registering seven steals and four assists.  The Owls got a balanced scoring effort, with Kirsy Segarra (Holyoke/Holyoke, Mass.) scoring 11 points as the only other Owl in double figures.  Rebecca Sapouckey (Granby/Chicopee, Mass.) added eight points and seven rebounds. Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow/Ludlow, Mass.) scored seven for the Owls, who had 15 of 16 players who dressed for the game score.

Westfield forced 38 MCLA turnovers in the game.  In a statistical curiosity, MCLA turned the ball over 20 times in the decisive first half without recording and assist.  12 of the Trailblazers 14 first-half points came on second chance tries.

MCLA completes its season at 14-13.  The Trailblazers were led by 11 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots from Kayla Hotaling (RCS/Ravena, N.Y.) who fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.  McKenzie Robinson (Hoosac Valley/Adams, Mass.) scored eight points for the Blazers while Samantha Gawron (South Hadley/South Hadley, Mass.) added seven.

Courtesy of Framingham State and Westfield State Sports Information