After winning their semifinal games on Friday night, the top seed Bridgewater State and third seed Westfield State will meet Sunday at 12 pm for the 2023 MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament title.

#3 Westfield State 90, #2 Framingham State 76     Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State first-year guard Octaviana Williams (Springfield, Mass.) paced the Owls with 15 points as Westfield used a balanced scoring attack to accelerate past Framingham State 90-76 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Semifinal game from Logan Gymnasium on Friday night.

The Owls advance into the MASCAC Championship game and will travel to #1-seed Bridgewater State for a noon tipoff on Sunday. The last time Westfield went to the conference title game was in 2019 as the Owls went on to win the MASCAC championship over top-seeded Worcester State, 84-73. Framingham State, who were the 2022 defending MASCAC Champions, are eliminated from postseason contention.

Westfield set the tone of the game from the start with Williams scoring on the first offensive possession of the game, then Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) forced a turnover on the first Rams' possession, leading to a lay-in of her own to put the Owls up 4-0.

The game remained tight throughout the quarter with the Owls defense standing tall, allowing just nine points while forcing ten Framingham turnovers to enter the second quarter up 12-9.

The Owls pushed the lead to six points in the early stages of the second quarter with Maddie Pond (Holyoke, Mass.) setting up Jess Gardner (Webster, Mass.) for a triple to give Westfield a 17-11 advantage with 8:13 left in the half.

Westfield held the lead midway through the second until the Rams broke off an 11-2 scoring run which was finished off by a Katherine Haselton (Greenfield, Mass.) layup to put the Rams up 33-25 with 1:15 remaining in the half.

The Owls responded in an empathic way in the final minute of the half, charging downhill with a jumper from Hannah Sheldon (Taunton, Mass.), then a Pond steal and score cut the deficit to four points in a matter of eight seconds.

Lindsey Bohenko (Lowell, Mass.) drilled two massive three pointers on consecutive possessions as the Owls regained the lead, 35-33 with 27 seconds left in the period. Gwendolyn Carpenter (Ashley Falls, Mass.) knocked down a free throw as the half closed, but the Owls weathered the Rams scoring surge, and held the lead heading into the break, 35-34.

Framingham opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run with Flannery O'Connor (Amesbury, Mass.) and Kelsey Yelle (South Easton, Mass.) scoring consecutive baskets, then Haselton nailed a three to put the Rams in front 41-35.

With the Owls fighting an uphill battle, Lila Labrie (Schenectady, N.Y.) halted the Rams' scoring spurt by hitting a three-pointer then forcing a turnover and dishing a pass to Pond for a transition layup to make it a one-point game, 41-40. Labrie then stole another pass from Haselton, then got her defender in the air with a pump fake under the rim, laying it home to put the Owls back on top, 42-41 with 7:10 to play in the third.

From that point forward, the Owls would not relinquish the lead, and after back-to-back threes from Pond and Gardner, Westfield mounted a 50-43 lead crossing through the halfway point of the third.

Framingham attempted to cut into the lead, bringing it back to four points. But Westfield had numerous answers throughout the quarter, beginning with Williams who forced in a layup to gain a five-point lead. Yelle scored on the other end for the Rams, then Morgan Berthiaume (Webster, Mass.) knocked down a triple to distance themselves again to six points.

The Owls eventually pushed the lead into double figures thanks to a Mia-Angelina Leslie (Lewiston, Maine) three, followed by second chance points by Sheldon as the quarter expired to put the Owls up 66-55 after three periods.

Framingham refused to go away, clawing back to make it a six-point game with just under eight minutes to play. Once again, the Owls answered the mini-scoring run using second chance points and defense to drive the lead back into double digits. Williams corralled a loose ball on the offensive glass, then found Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) for a bucket to make it an eight-point game. Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, Mass.) then swiped a pass and converted a layup on the other end to increase their lead back to ten points (72-62) with 7:20 left in the game.

More havoc in the backcourt from the Owls defense led to transition points again after a made basket from Williams, with Labrie finishing a layup set up from Williams to give the Owls their largest lead of the night to take a 77-64 lead into the final minutes of the game.

The Rams would cut it down to six points, but free throw shooting down the stretch by the Owls was pivotal to closing out the win and to send Westfield into the MASCAC Championship game.

Westfield had four double-figure scorers with Williams scoring 15 followed by Pond and Gardner at 11 points. Grant collected ten points as nine Owls' players scored six or more points in a potent offensive attack. Gardner registered a game-high 12 rebounds to secure a double-double.

O'Connor led the Rams in points (18) and rebounds (11). Yelle followed with 17 points and eight rebounds. Katty Haidul (Gilford, N.H.) and Carpenter both added 14 points.

Westfield outscored Framingham 55-42 in the second half, including a 31-point third quarter to drive the Owls lead into double digits heading into the closing frame.

Overall, the Owls shot 37.6% from the field (32-85), connected on eight of 30 triples (30.8%). After not attempting a single free throw through the first half of the game, Westfield got to the stripe and converted in clutch moments, finishing a highly efficient 81.8% from the line (18-22).

#1 Bridgewater State 83, #5 Worcester State 67    Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Top-seeded Bridgewater State University posted an 83-67 victory over #5 Worcester State University in the semifinal round of the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 20-6 on the season and advance to the MASCAC championship game for the second straight season and tenth time overall. Bridgewater will host #3 Westfield State University in the conference title game on Sunday at noon. The Lancers end the season with an overall mark of 11-16.

Four players scored in double figures for Bridgewater State. Sophomore forward Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) tallied 17 points, six rebounds and a game-high four steals, and junior guard Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with 12 points and game-best totals of eight rebounds and nine assists. Sophomore forward Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) checked in with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals while the Bears also received 11 points, four rebounds and three assists from senior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) as well as ten points, two rebounds, two assist and two steals from senior guard Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.).

Junior forward Katie Hurynowicz (Tyngsboro, Mass.) paced Worcester State with a game-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists. Graduate center Sarah Blomgren (Lunenburg, Mass.) contributed 13 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots for the Lancers.

The first half featured eight ties and two lead changes. With the score knotted at 30-30 late in the second quarter, the Bears closed out the period with an 8-2 run to take a 38-32 lead into the break. Tripp scored four points during the run including an off-balance jumper with time winding down.

Tripp and Grassi tallied ten points apiece over the first 20 minutes to lead all players. Blomgren paced the Lancers with eight.

Bridgewater shot 36.8% (14-38) in the first half and went a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line. The Bears missed on each of their six three-point attempts. The Lancers connected on 39-4% (13-33) of their first-half field goal attempts, including 2-for-6 (33%) from behind the arc, and went 4-for-6 (66.7%) at the charity stripe.

Early in the third quarter, Worcester closed the gap to two (39-37) following a traditional three-point play by Hurynowicz and an Erin Gallella (Sr., Tewksbury, Mass.) layup.. The Bears answered with a 9-2 run, highlighted by a Grassi trifecta and four points from Piche, to pull ahead, 46-37. Bridgewater would ultimately take a nine-point lead (54-45) into the final period.

A Gallella three-pointer less than a minute into the fourth quarter pulled the Lancers to within eight (56-48). That would be as close as the visitors would get. A 10-2 BSU run, spurred on by a pair of three-pointers from Cleveland and senior forward Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.), made it a 16-point game (68-52) with 6 ½ minutes left to play. The Bears would get up by as many as 19 points on three occasions in the period including an 81-62 advantage following a Cleveland layup with 2:10 showing on the scoreboard.

Bridgewater shot 40.8% (31-76) for the game and finished 17-for-19 (89.5%) at the free throw line. After going 0-for-6 from behind the arc in the first half, the Bears knocked down 4 of 9 three-point attempts over the final two quarters. The BSU defense forced 21 turnovers which led to an 18-4 advantage in points off turnovers. The Bears also held a 42-32 edge in points in the paint.

The Lancers shot 42.4% (25-59) from the floor and 33% (5-15) from three-point range on the evening and went 12-for-20 (60%) at the stripe.

Releases courtesy of Westfield State and Bridgewater State Sports Information