Third seed Bridgewater State and fourth seed Worcester State move on to the MASCAC Women's Basketball semifinal round on Thursday after winning their quarterfinal contests Tuesday night.

#3 Bridgewater State 67, #6 Fitchburg State 47                 Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior forward Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) tallied 14 points and six rebounds to lead the third-seeded Bridgewater State University Bears to a 67-47 victory over #6 Fitchburg State University in the opening round of the 2018 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The host Bears (11-15) advance to the MASCAC Tournament semifinals and will travel to #3 seed Framingham State University on Thursday evening. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 PM.  The visiting Falcons end the season with an overall record of 9-17.

The game marked the first time that the two teams met in the MASCAC Tournament since 2003. The Bears are 51-15 all-time against the Falcons including 4-1 in conference tournament play.

Melton connected on 6 of 11 field goal attempts and recorded two assists, a blocked shot and three steals. Her second rebound of the game marked the 500th of her career.

Senior guard Jennifer Whyte (Braintree, Mass.) added 12 points and six rebounds for the Bears, while junior guard Olivia DelGrosso (Ledyard, Conn.) notched nine points and three boards. Junior guard Sara DaSilva (Chelmsford, Mass.) checked in with eight points, two rebounds, three assists and a game-high five steals.

Sophomore guard Angelina Marazzi (Manchester, N.H.) paced the visiting Falcons with 13 points to go along with three boards and a pair of assists.

The Bears used a 20-0 run in the first quarter to turn a six-point deficit (10-4) into a 24-10 lead. Sixteen of the 20 points came on layups with DelGrosso leading the charge with six points. Bridgewater would hold a 26-12 advantage at the end of one. The Bears shot 65% (11-17) in the first quarter, while the Falcons connected on just 3 of 12 field goal attempts and turned the ball over eight times.

Bridgewater outscored Fitchburg 14-10 in the second quarter to make it a 40-22 game at the break.

DelGrosso and Whyte led all players with nine points in the first half. Fitchburg had 14 turnovers over the first 20 minutes.

An 8-1 run to start the third quarter on four points apiece from Melton and DaSilva gave the Bears a commanding 48-23 lead. Bridgewater got up by as many as 28 points (55-27) in the third and took a 56-29 advantage into the final period.

The BSU lead did not get below 20 in the fourth quarter as the Bears cruised to the 67-47 victory.

Bridgewater shot 39% (27-69) for the game and went 10-for-13 (77%) at the free throw line. The Bears' suffocating defense forced 24 turnovers and limited the Falcons to just 26% (26%) shooting for the game. Neither squad shot the ball well from outside as the two teams combined to go 7-for-42 (17%) from behind the arc. BSU held a 22-7 edge in points off turnovers.

#4 Worcester State 74, #5 Salem State 69                    Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's junior Britt Herring (West Brookfield, Mass.) scored a team-high 17 points enroute to her 1,000^th career point as the No. 4 seeded Lancers defeated the No. 5 seeded Salem State Vikings in a Tuesday evening Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) quarterfinal overtime thriller.

Salem State jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a layup from Norma Wagett (Saugus, Mass.) and a pair of free throws from Tyra Scott (Methuen, Mass.). Worcester State's senior Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) broke the nil Lancer score with a triple two and a half minutes in. Brianna Rodriguez (Salem, Mass.) put the visitors' lead back at four with a triple of her own on the next possession. The game saw a tie at 7-7, but Salem State took back the lead with a Scott jumper with 3:33 to go in the quarter. The Vikings led 12-10 going into the second.

Worcester State took control in the second quarter, as they outscored their opponents 19-7 in the frame. Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) tied the score at 12-12 just over a minute in, and Herring gave the Lancers their first lead of the game on Worcester State's next possession. Christina Corey (Methuen, Mass.) knotted the score at 14-14, but Worcester State's Sam Ellis (Grafton, Mass.) sparked a 12-2 run with 8:27 to go. Salem State's Scott broke the Lancer scoring binge with a layup just under two minutes to go. Though, free throws from Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) and Ellis gave the Lancers back a 10-point advantage going into the intermission.

 The Lancers saw a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter when Hackett drained a triple. The Lancers attained a greater lead with three minutes to go with a Berkel and-one (45-27). Despite the 18-point lead for the Lancers, Salem State battled back and ended the quarter with a 7-4 run to cut the margin to 14. Moschella tallied six points in the third quarter for the Vikings.

Salem State chipped away at the Lancers' lead in the fourth and made it a 10-point game with 7:59 on the clock following a Gianna Moschella (Peabody, Mass.) free throw. After an Emily Carens (Northborough, Mass.) jumper on the other end of the court, the Vikings trimmed the lead to just seven when Rodriguez drained a trey, stole the ball on the opposing end and Scott made a layup on the next possession. The Vikings kept battling and ultimately they used an 11-point run to attain a 61-59 lead with 43 seconds on the clock. It came down to a free throw shooting battle. The Vikings missed all four of their free throw shots in the last 30 seconds of the game to keep the score at 61-59. Worcester State had two free throw opportunities with just seconds on the clock, but missed both. Worcester State's rookie Sam Maglione (Lancaster, Mass.) was on the other end of Herring's missed free throw and got fouled on an attempt at a basket. Maglione sunk the pair of free throws to knot the score at 61-61 and send the game into overtime.

Each team saw a lead in the first two minutes of the overtime period, but with 2:47 on the clock, Worcester State's Berkel and Herring teamed up in the paint to begin a 9-0 run, capped off by a Maglione 3-pointer. In the last 20 seconds of the overtime period, Salem State's Moschella and Waggett netted three's to get within four, but Hackett closed out the game with a made free throw for a 74-69 final score.   

Releases courtesy of Bridgewater State and Worcester State Sports Information