Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State Owls have earned the top seed in the 2014-15 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament after finishing their season a perfect 12-0 in conference play.

Earning a first round bye, Westfield State and second seed Bridgewater State will await the winner of the two quarterfinal round games which will be played on Tuesday, February 24.

Third seed Worcester State hosts sixth seed Salem State at 7 pm on Tuesday at Clark University while fourth seed Framingham State will play host to fifth seed Fitchburg State also at 7 pm. On Thursday, top seed Westfield State will host the winner of Framingham State/ Fitchburg State in a semifinal and Bridgewater State hosts Worcester State/ Salem State winner in the other semifinal.

The winner of the two semifinals games will then compete Saturday, February 28 at the highest remaining seed for the MASCAC Championship.

Leading the Owls to 12 wins in conference play and the top spot in the tournament, Jen Ashton was strong in many statistical categories at the end of the season, including points per game (15.1) while tallying 142 assists, 95 steals and 147 rebounds on the season. Teammate Forbasaw Nkamebo closed out the regular season averaging 14.7 points and 9.9 rebounds.

Bridgewater State as the second seed finished the regular season with eight MASCAC victories. The duo of Megan Boutilette and Chanelle Melton both averaged 11.3 points per game this season while Boutilette added 9.4 rebounds and 3.8 steals per game.

Landing the third seed in the tournament is Worcester State who finished the regular season with seven league victories.  Julie Frankian finished the regular season leading the conference in three point percentage (46.1) and second in points per game (15.7). Bianca Langford ended the season first in the MASCAC in rebounds per game (12.3) and fifth in field goal percentage (46.7).

Framingham State claims the fourth seed with seven conference wins on the year. Alycia Rackliffe leads the team with 13.6 points per game and added 8.1 rebounds while Nicole Bostic finished the year with 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds.

Rounding out the tournament field is Fitchburg State with the fifth seed and Salem State with the sixth seed. The Falcons had four wins in conference play this season. Laura Cote led the team with 12.7 points per game while also netting 2.8 assists and 3.7 steals per contest. Helping the Vikings to three MASCAC wins is Rachael Carter, who closed out the year first in the conference in points per game (19.4), second in rebounds per game (10.9) and fifth in three point percentage (30.7).

During the 2013-14 MASCAC Women’s Tournament, Bridgewater State won their fourth straight MASCAC Championship after defeating Framingham State, 73-66, to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.