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Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information

Bridgewater State 74, Worcester State 59

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Senior forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) tallied a game-best 18 points on an 8-for-10 effort from the field to help lead top-seeded Bridgewater State to a 74-59 victory over #5 Worcester State in the semifinals of the MASCAC Women’s Basketball Tournament this evening at the Tinsley Center.

The winner of this evening’s MCLA/Salem State game will play against the Bears (18-7) tomorrow in the tournament championship at 2 PM. Bridgewater is making its third appearance in the MASCAC title game in the last five years.  The Lancers see their season come to a close at 13-14.

Senior forward Monica-Sabina Bharoocha (N. Smithfield, RI) also paced the hosts with 17 points as sophomore guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, MA) added 16. Second-year forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, MA) grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds and freshman forward Alana Watkins (Wareham, MA) chipped in with 10 points in 21 minutes.

Junior Michaela Cosby (Walpole, MA) did a little bit of everything as she pulled down eight boards, scored seven points, dished out a game-high six helpers and stole two balls.

Sophomore guard Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) led the Lancers with 15 points and three assists while senior guard Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) finished with 14 points and eight caroms. Junior center Meaghan O’Keefe (Warren, MA) recorded her seventh double-double in the last 10 games with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Bridgewater State used a tenacious full-court press to jump out to an 18-0 lead eight minutes into the contest. The Bears forced 11 turnovers and turned eight steals and into 14 easy points.

The Lancers, however, would make their first field goal on a Burns lay-up with 12:04 on the clock and go on a 10-4 run to trail by 12 with 10:22 remaining (22-10).

As Worcester State trailed 28-17 with 6:23 left, the BSU offense was ignited by three consecutive threes – with two from Williamson and another by DePina – to end the first period with a 17-4 surge and the commanding 45-21 lead at the break.

Williamson and Bharoocha combined for 25 points in the stanza as the Bears connected for 62 percent of their shots and missed just 11 field goal attempts. In addition to missing their first five bids from the field to start off the contest, the Blue and Gold shot a porous 25 percent for the period (7-for-28).

After a Charette jumper that cut the deficit to 22 points early in the stanza, Bridgewater State outscored their opponents 13-5 to balloon their lead to 30 (58-28) and to put the game well out of reach with 12:58 remaining.

With the game no longer in doubt, the Lancers used a late 16-1 push to trail 74-59 with 90 seconds remaining, but ultimately came up short for what was the final score.

The hosts finished hitting for a 57 percent clip from the field as they also dished out 23 assists for 30 field goal attempts and led in points off turnovers (22-20).

Both teams were even in rebounds (32-32) while the Lancers led in second-chance points (23-6) and offensive boards (16-7)

With her 18 points, DePina moved past Caitlin Feeney (1,098 points) into fifth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as she now has 1,115 career points.

Charette wraps up her outstanding four-year career with 1,178 points which is good for ninth on the Worcester State All-Time Scoring list.

The Blue and Gold is now 0-6 all-time against Bridgewater State in the MASCAC Tournament.

MCLA 95, Salem State 79

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. --- MCLA junior guard Lucy Tremblay (E. Greenbush, NY) netted 21 points as she went 9-for-17 from the field with a pair of three-pointers to help lead the third-seeded Trailblazers to a 95-79 upset over #2 Salem State this evening in the MASCAC Women’s Basketball Semifinals this evening. 

MCLA (15-12) stamps their ticket to their second MASCAC title game in the last four years as they will play top-seed Bridgewater State tomorrow at 2 PM for the tournament crown. The Vikings end their 2011-12 campaign at 11-15 overall.

 Senior forward Jen Wehner (Cooperstown, NY) and sophomore guard Kaitlyn Chenevert (Uxbridge, MA) both scored 18 apiece while senior guard Alie Dobrovolc (Little Falls, NY) and freshman forward Sara Hamilton (Dalton, MA) finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.  Wehner collected a contest-best 16 boards to finish with a double-double as Dobrovolc nearly had a triple double with eight rebounds and nine assists. 

Freshman guard Rachel Carter (Merrimack, NH) impressed with a game-high 24 points for Salem State. Senior forward Breanna Comeau (Amesbury, MA) also notched totals of 14 points, nine points and four assists. Junior guard Bridget Dullea (Peabody, MA) chipped in with 11 points and sophomore forward Ginny Fleming (Peabody, MA) registered 10.

With the score knotted 8-8 five minutes into the contest, MCLA utilized a 24-7 run to claim a 32-15 advantage with 5:14 remaining. The Trailblazers connected for 9 of 11 from the field as the rally was finished off on its only trifecta by Tremblay. Stepping it up on the defensive end, Salem State would outscore their opponents and close out the half with a 19-5 spurt to trail, 37-34 at the intermission. The Vikings would use a 5-for-6 effort from the charity stripe with five points by Fleming and Dullea would bang a 26-foot buzzer beating three-pointer to end the period. 

Coming out of the locker room there were three ties and a pair of lead changes as neither team led by more than four before MCLA went on a 15-6 run to open up a 71-60 game with 8:53 left in regulation. Wehner book-ended the surge with lay-ups as she snapped the 54-54 tie with 12:26 remaining and scored eight points in the surge for the Trailblazers.  Salem State got to within eight at the 7:04 mark (71-63), but that was as close as they would get as MCLA would go into double-digits on a jumper by senior forward Olivia McMullen (Broadalbin, NY) and never look back.

MCLA shot 55 percent for the game (34-for-62) and held a commanding 51-29 advantage in rebounds and second-chance points (22-13). The Trailblazers also went 83 percent from the charity stripe for the contest, missing just five free throws (24-for-29).  The Vikings connected for 35 percent of their field goals (25-for-71) and hit just five of their 23 attempts from downtown (22 percent). Courtesy of 17 swipes, Salem State parlayed 24 MCLA turnovers into a 25-12 edge in points off turnovers.