Women's Basketball Falls to Framingham in MASCAC Semifinals

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Second-seeded Framingham State University outscored #3 seed Bridgewater State University 37-20 in the second half en route to a 71-50 victory in the semifinal round of the 2018 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Basketball Tournament on 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 24th. The Bears close their season at 11-16.

The Rams received double-digit scoring from five different players. Raegan Mulherin (Baldwinville, Mass.) led the way with 19 points and ten boards 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 junior forward Kailyn Aguiar (Acushnet, Mass.) who scored 13 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals in 26 minutes off the bench. Senior forward Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) added ten points, six boards and a pair of steals. Aguiar connected on 6 of 11 field goals attempts.

After the Rams jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead the Bears fought back and kept the game close for the first half. A Melton layup for Bridgewater near the second quarter buzzer made it a 34-30 game at the break with Framingham hanging on to the slight lead.

The Bears scored the first two buckets of the third quarter to tie the game at 34, but the Rams answered with a 10-0 run bookended by Sanborn buckets to push the lead to 44-34 midway through the third. Leading by 12 to start the fourth, Framingham rattled off 13-2 run over nearly seven minutes to put the game away.

The Rams shot 45% (29-64) from the floor and 31% (5-16) from long range. The Bears shot 31% (21-64) from the field including just 2-for-21 (9.5%) from beyond the arc.