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Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

Westfield State 63, Salem State 52

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore center Gabby Felix scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds to pace Westfield State University to a 63-52 victory over Salem State University in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women’s basketball tournament.

Westfield, 17-9, advances to the tournament semi-finals and will play at No. 2 seed Worcester State on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7:00 p.m. The Owls and Lancers split their regular season series. No. 6 seed Salem ends its season with an 11-15 record.

“Worcester State is as tough as they come,” said Westfield head coach Andrea Bertini. ““It’s going to be a very tough game; they have a tough gym to play in and the crowd is always full.”

Westfield got off to a fast start for the third straight time this season vs. Salem. Executing well at both ends of the court, Westfield led 14-2 in the opening five minutes and 20-7 with 8:20 remaining in the first half.

The halftime score was 30-17 as Salem struggled from the field, shooting only 18 percent in the opening 20 minutes. Westfield 6-1 freshman forward Tayler Travis scored all 10 of her points in the first half and Felix tallied nine as the Owls dominated inside.

In the second half, Westfield took its biggest lead of 19 points, 38-19, with 16:08 remaining. But trailing 42-25 with 14:27 remaining, the Vikings went on a 13-2 run to pull within six points, 44-38, with 8:30 remaining.

The Owls quickly built the lead to 11 points, but the scrappy Salem squad sliced the deficit to five points, 50-45, on a Bridget Dullea layup with 4:56 remaining.

Felix then took charge, scoring four points to key a 7-0 run that gave Westfield a 57-45 edge with 2:35 remaining.

Both teams struggled offensively and shot a nearly identical 29 percent from the field (Westfield was 18 for 61; Salem 18 for 62) but the Owls had a huge edge from the foul line, canning 26 of 34 free throws. Salem was 11 for 16 from the charity stripe. The Vikings made 5 of 19 3-point attempts while Westfield was only 1 for 14 from beyond the arc.

The only players scoring for the Owls were the five starters. Senior guard Jenny Bell stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, 10 rebounds, three assists and six steals. Freshman guard Keri Doldoorian scored 14 points, including 9 of 10 free throws.  Felix was 9 for 18 from the field and 8 for 11 from the foul line. Sophomore guard Jen Ashton finished with eight rebounds, five assists, five steals and four points despite only playing 26 minutes because of foul trouble.

“Gabby had a great game tonight,” said Bertini. “She must have had almost a 20-20 (points-rebounds) game. Her matchup tonight was in her favor but that will be different on Thursday.”

“I was getting banged around tonight, but I’m glad I hit my free throws and that was a big win,” said the six-foot Felix, a graduate of Springfield Commerce High School.

Dullea led the Vikings with team highs of 18 points and seven rebounds; she scored 16 of her points during the second-half comeback. Also scoring in double figures was Ginny Fleming.

Courtesy Framingham State Sports Information

Framingham State 71, Fitchburg State 59

Framingham, Mass. - Despite a rough start to the second half, the fourth seed Framingham State University women’s basketball team was able to fight back and defeat the fifth Fitchburg State University Falcons 71-59 on Tuesday night in one quarterfinal matchup of the 2013 Massachusetts State Collegiate Atheltic Conference (MASCAC) Women’s Basketball Championship.

With the win, Framingham State (14-11) punched their ticket to the MASCAC semifinals on Thursday evening, while the Falcons conclude their season at 11-14.

“It was all about heart tonight, the girls showed great leadership and didn’t quit,” Elizabeth Brosseau said about her team overcoming a late second-half deficit.

The Falcons led by three-points at the half thanks to shooting just under 43% from the field, as Framingham State shot 9-for-41 from the floor (22%) in the first half.  

Fitchburg State would lead by as many as eight in the second half, as junior Laura Cote (Ashby, Mass.) provided a spark off the bench all night for the Falcons and would finish with a team-high 19 points including four three pointers. 

“We played a good team and got tired at the end.  Hoffman took over in the end and we ran out of gas,” Walter Paschal Head Coach of the Falcons said after the game. 

Paschal was talking about Framingham junior guard Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) who ended the night with 16 points and 10 rebounds and hit several big shots in the second-half to get Framingham back in the game and eventually give them the lead. 

Senior forward Kia Minor (Edgartown, Mass.) was held scoreless in the first-half but came on strong in the second along with Hoffman to help the Rams dominate the final 10 minutes of the game.  Minor was one of five Rams to score in double-digits as she finished with 10. 

Senior Madeleine Park (Blue Hill, ME) led the way for the Rams with a game-high 21 points including five trifectas, while sophomores Margo McCarthy (Southampton, Mass.) and Samantha Irvine (Franklin, Mass.) chipped in 10 points apiece.  

Framingham State collectively shot the ball a lot better in the second-half both from the field (42%) and three-point territory (46%).   

The Falcons had four players reach double figures including Cote.  Junior Amy Fahey (Wilmington, Mass.) picked up 14 points and seven boards, while senior Kelsey Johnston (Shirley, Mass.) and freshman Megan Wodzinski (Littleton, Mass.) chipped in 11 and 10 respectively.

The Rams will now travel to Bridgewater State on Thursday for a date with the top-seeded Bears as the winner will advance to the MASCAC Finals on Saturday.  The Bears had their way with Framingham State in the regular season, defeating the Rams twice by an average of 28.5 points per game. 

“I’m hoping the third time might be the charm,” Elizabeth Brosseau said afterwards about facing Bridgewater State on Thursday.

The Rams will take on the Bears in Bridgewater at 7 p.m.  with the winner advancing to take on either the two-seed Worcester State or Westfield State, who was victorious over Salem State this evening in the other quarterfinal.