Top seed Westfield State and second seed Framingham State have advanced to the title game of the MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament after winning their semifinal contests on Thursday evening.

#2 Framingham State 71 #3 Bridgewater State 50           Box Score

Framingham, Mass.- The second seed Framingham State University women's basketball team outscored third seed Bridgewater State 37-20 in the second half en route to a 71-50 victory in the semifinal round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament Thursday evening in Framingham.

The Rams improve to 16-9 on the season and advance to MASCAC title game for the third straight season and fourth time in five seasons. They will face top-seeded Westfield State on Saturday, February 24^th. The Bears close their season at 11-16.

The Rams received double-digit scoring from five different players. Senior Raegan Mulherin(Baldwinville, Mass.) led the way with 19 points and ten board for a double-double. Tiphani Harris (Revere, Mass.) added a double-double of her own with 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Mary Kate O'Day (Berlin, Mass.) and Julia Sanborn (Dracut, Mass.) each added 14 points and Emily Velozo (Tewksbury, Mass.) chipped in ten points from the bench.

The Bears were led by Kailyn Aguiar (Acushnet, Mass.) who scored 13 points and Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) who added ten.

After the Rams jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead the Bears fought back and kept the game close for the 1^st half. A Melton layup for Bridgewater near the buzzer of the second quarter sent the Rams into the break leading 34-30.

The Bears scored the first two buckets of the third quarter to tie the game at 34 then the Rams ripped off a 10-0 run bookended by Sanborn buckets to push the lead to 44-34 mid way through the third.

Leading by 12 to start the 4^th the Rams rattled off 13-2 run over nearly seven minutes to put the game away.

The Rams shot 45 percent from the floor and 31 percent from long range. The Bears shot 21 percent from the field and struggled shooting less than ten percent from beyond the arc.

#1 Westfield State 105, #4 Worcester State 80          Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. —Top-seeded Westfield State University women's basketball got 18 points each from freshman Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass) and junior Lucy Barrett (Williamstown, Mass) to defeat fourth seeded Worcester State University, 105-80 in Thursday night's Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinal game at the Woodward Center.
 
With the win, Westfield (18-7) heads back to the MASCAC championship game for the fourth straight year, and the Owls will be looking to win their third straight conference title.  Westfield State University will host the MASCAC championship game Saturday against second-seeded Framingham State University, at 1:00 PM at the Woodward Center.
 
The Owls ran out to an early 10-2 lead led by Chelsea Moussette's (Southampton, Mass) early eight points. Leading 12-8 late in the first quarter the Owls went on an 11-0 run forcing five Worcester turnovers in that stretch, which was capped by yet another three-pointer from Moussette.
 
"We shot really well today," said Westfield State head coach Andrea Bertini. "I thought we were able to run our pick and roll, and cut and move.  Nothing drastically different from the last meeting,  but early we did a good job of turning them over and getting tempo I think that was really important because the pace off play and trying to keep them off the foul line is our goal and we did a good job with that."
 
Westfield led 55-37 at the half, and 80-65 after three quarters.
 
The Owls opened the third quarter with a trademark three-pointer from Barrett, which sparked a quick 10-0 run that put the Owls ahead 90-65 with 7:47 left to play.
 
Westfield shot lights-out from downtown all night as the Owls shot 62 percent (13-21)  from behind the arc, to go along with overall field-goal percentage of 54 percent on the game.
 
Westfield also dished out 20 assists on 30 baskets. 
 
"This is a great shooting team, maybe the best I have had in my time at Westfield State," said Bertini, and they share the ball really well."
 
Moussette added 17 points and eight assists. Senior center Rebecca Sapouckey (Granby HS/Chicopee, Mass.) added 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and junior guard Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow, Mass.) added 13 points to round out five Owl scorers in double figures.
 
For Worcester, junior Emily Carens (Northboro, Mass.)  led with 21 points and five rebounds off the bench, while junior Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, CT) scored 17 points and 14 rebounds while junior Kate Surprenant (Pelham NH) added 16 points and five assists to lead the effort for the Lancers.

Worcester finishes the season 13-14 overall.
 
Westfield's win sets up a rematch in the conference title game, as the Owls and Rams will meet in the conference final for the third straight time.
 
Framingham was a 71-50 winner over Bridgewater State in the other semifinal game tonight. 

Releases courtesy of Framingham and Westfield State Sports Information