Tournament Bracket

For the fourth straight year, the Westfield State Owls claim the number one seed in the 2018 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament which begins on Tuesday with the quarterfinal round.

In the quarterfinals, third seed Bridgewater State will entertain sixth seed Fitchburg State while fourth seed Worcester State hosts fifth seed Salem State both on Tuesday, February 20 at 7 pm. Second seed Framingham State will face off with the winner of Bridgewater State/Fitchburg State on Thursday, February 22 at 6 pm while top seed Westfield State entertains the winner of Worcester State/Salem State at 7 pm.

The winners of both semifinals will then meet on Saturday, February 24 at the highest remaining seed for the MASCAC Tournament Championship and the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Westfield State, as the top seed, earns a first round bye and the regular season title. They were 11-1 in league play this season. Leading the Owls is Lucy Barrett who led the league in free throw percentage (94.7), third in steals (56) and fourth in points per game (15.8). She also tallied 39 assists and 56 steals.

Earning the other first round bye is second seed Framingham State who was 9-3 in conference action. Mary Kate O'Day ended the regular season first in the conference in points per game with 18.6 and total points 428 plus second in three-point percentage at 34.8. She also netted 151 rebounds, 50 assists and 29 steals.

Bridgewater State is next with the third seed. The Bears were 6-6 at the end of the MASCAC regular season schedule. Chanelle Melton led the team in points per game (11) and was second in the conference in field goal percentage (50.7). She finished the regular season with 135 rebounds, 39 assists and 19 steals.

Landing the fourth seed is Worcester State. The Lancers were 6-6 during the conference campaign. Britt Herring led the league in field goal percentage at 57 and blocks with 73 while finishing fifth in total rebounds with 192. She also collected 53 assists and 18 steals.

Rounding out this year's tournament field are Salem State and Fitchburg State in fifth and sixth, respectively. The Vikings ended the regular season with a 5-7 record in the MASCAC. Kia Fernandes was in the top five of several categories as the end of the regular season, including points per game (15.5), total points (373), total rebounds (241), rebounds per game (10) and field goal percentage (46.4). The Falcons had three wins during league action. Angelina Marazzi ended the regular season second in the league in points per game with 15.9, fourth in free throw percentage at 78.9 while adding 101 rebounds, 58 assists and 44 steals.

During last year's championship, top seed Westfield State bested second seed Framingham State 83-74 to claim their second straight title as a spot in the NCAA Tournament.