Women's Basketball Falls to Framingham State in MASCAC Title Game, 63-59

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The top-seeded Bridgewater State University women's basketball team was denied in its bid for back-to-back Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championships.

The Bears missed 16 of 19 shots in the fourth quarter and were stopped by second-seeded Framingham State University, 63-59, at the Tinsley Center Sunday afternoon.

BSU has reached the MASCAC final five years in a row and faced Framingham State for a third consecutive season.

The Rams (17-10) have won four of the last six MASCAC tournament championships and will play in the NCAA Division III tourney this week. The selection show is Monday at 2:30 p.m.

BSU (16-11) overcame an 11-point deficit in the first half and led by six in the third quarter.

BSU biggest lead in the fourth quarter was three points, but the Rams took the lead for good at 57-56 with 2:38 remaining as the Bears struggled at the offensive end.

Framingham State outscored BSU, 15-9, in the final 10 minutes to earn a trip to the NCAAs.

BSU had won 21 straight MASCAC tourney games at home, the last loss coming to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 61-53, in the semifinal round on Feb. 26, 2010.

The Bears were attempting to win all three games against the Rams after sweeping the regular-season series.

Sophomore Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) led BSU with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting to go with five rebounds in just 22 minutes of action.

Sophomore Reese Bartlett (Norwood, Mass.) added 11 points while freshman Emilie von der Linden (Sanbornville, N.H.) recorded a double-double, her team-leading tenth of the season, with 10 points and 11 rebounds to go with six blocked shots and a pair of steals.

Sophomore Jacqueline Schels (Hamburg, N.J.), the tournament's Most Valuable Player, led Framingham State with 22 points, hitting 5 of 11 from 3-point range, to go with six rebounds.

Also in double figures for the Rams were sophomore Faith Greene (Worcester, Mass.) with 13 points and 16 rebounds and senior Kiara Cerruti (Canton, Mass.) with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. The double-double marked Greene's eighth of the season.

BSU entered the fourth quarter with a 50-48 edge and went up, 51-48, on a foul shot by senior Mairead Gallagher (Bridgewater, Mass.) 13 seconds in.

Two Greene foul shots and a layup by senior Kelsey Yelle (Easton, Mass.) had the Rams in front, 52-51, with 8:19 left as BSU missed its first eight shots of the quarter.

A 3-pointer by Gallagher put the Bears back on top, 54-52, with 6:21 left before Greene tied it with two foul shots with 4:51 to go.

The Bears' last lead of the day came at 56-54 on a von der Linden layup with 4:01 left. BSU did not score again until there were 15 seconds remaining in the game.

Framingham State scored seven straight points after the von der Linden basket for a 61-56 lead with 22 seconds to go.

Schels made a 3-pointer and a free throw and Greene had a jumper and foul shot to open the five-point advantage.

A banked in 3-pointer by junior Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) with 15 seconds left got BSU within 61-59, but freshman Zaria Anderson (New Bedford, Mass.) sealed it with two foul shots with 12 seconds to go.

Framingham State led by as many as eight in the first quarter and held a 16-10 edge after the first 10 minutes. The Bears went 4-for-15 from the field in the opening quarter.

The Rams built a 30-19 lead with 3:45 left in the half on a layup by Yelle, but the BSU closed the second quarter on an 11-3 run to get within 33-30 at the break.

Junior Ashleigh Johnson (Carver, Mass.) had five of the points with Bartlett and O'Sullivan-Van Etten each making a 3-pointer.

The Bears then scored the first nine points of the second half for a 39-33 lead getting seven straight points from O'Sullivan-Van Etten and two foul shots by von der Linden.

BSU was up, 48-43, after two straight layups by Bartlett, but Schels had a 3-pointer and a layup down the stretch to help get the Rams within 50-48 after three quarters.

The Bears hit 33 percent of their shots and went 6-for-23 from 3-point range while the Rams hit 35 percent and were 6-for-27 on 3-pointers.

Framingham State had a 55-36 advantage in rebounds but committed more turnovers (22-15) than BSU.

The Bears opened the season 1-9 before going on a 14-game winning streak that ended in the MASCAC regular-season finale at Worcester State.

BSU opened the tournament with a win over sixth-seeded Anna Maria.

The Bears lose two players to graduation, Gallagher and Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.).