Women's Basketball Falls to Framingham State, 67-62, in MASCAC Semifinals

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Second-seeded Framingham State University defeated #3 Bridgewater State University, 67-62, in the semifinal round of the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday evening at the Athletic Center.

The Rams improve to 19-6 and advance to the tournament title game on Saturday afternoon against top-seeded Westfield State University. The five-time defending tournament champion Bears end the season with an overall record of 13-13.

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

Junior forward Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) scored a game-high 22 points on 10 of 15 shooting to go along with seven rebounds to pace the Bears. Classmate Jennie Lindland (Edgartown, Mass.) registered a double-double scoring 17 points and collecting ten rebounds, while sophomore guard Jennifer Whyte (Braintree, Mass.) scored 15 points off the bench.

Melton, Lindland and Whyte accounted for 23 of the Bears' 26 made field goals and 54 of the team's 62 points.

The first half featured six ties and three lead changes with Lindland scoring 13 of her 17 points over the first 20 minutes. An O'Connell buzzer-beater to close out the second quarter sent the teams to the break with the Bears leading 33-32.

Coming out of the intermission, 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 knocking down a trifecta with 3:48 to play to cut the deficit to 59-56. After missed layups by both sides, Connolly was fouled and made both of her free throws to push the lead to five. On the Rams' next possession, sophomore guard Raegan Mulherin (Baldwinville, Mass.) buried 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.

Bridgewater forced 20 turnovers and held a 24-14 advantage in points off turnovers as well as a 38-28 edge in points in the paint. The Bears, however, shot just 35% (26-74) from the floor, 25% (4-16) from beyond the arc and 50% (6-12) at the free throw line.

Framingham connected on 42% (25-59) of its field goal attempts including 7-for-17 (41%) from three-point range. The Rams struggled at the charity stripe converting just 10 of 23 (44%) free throw attempts.