Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information
Worcester, MA --- Junior Reilly O'Keefe (Warren, MA) and freshman Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) combined for 34 points to help pace fourth seeded Worcester State secure a 77-63 victory over fifth seeded MCLA this evening at Lancer Gymnasium in the quarterfinal round of the MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
The Lancers (9-16) will travel to top-seed Westfield State on Friday for a 5:30 PM matchup in the semifinal round. Sixth seeded Salem State, who upset #3 Bridgewater State 61-55 earlier this evening, will tip-off against second-seeded Fitchburg State at Westfield the other semifinal game at 7:30. The championship will take place on Saturday for the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament at 1:00 p.m.
MCLA, who finishes with the most wins in the history of their program, ends the 2009 campaign with a record of 14-12.
With the Lancers ahead 4-0 in the early going of the game, the Trailblazers went on a 20-6 run to take a 20-10 lead with 9:25 remaining in the opening stanza. MCLA extended the lead to 26-15 at the 6:41 mark on three consecutive free throws by sophomore Molly Broda (Southampton, MA) before Worcester State went on a 20-6 spurt to close out the half.
Two layups by WSC freshman Brittney McGinness (Billerica, MA) sandwiched a freshman Allie Dobrovolc (Little Falls, NY) jumper to help the Blue and Gold get within one with 1:03 left (32-31). Worcester State took the lead on a bucket by senior Erin McCullough (Harvard, MA) and sophomore Alexis George (Worcester, MA) helped give the Lancers a three-point cushion (35-32) entering to enter the intermission.
After a Charette field goal gave Worcester State the 37-32 lead to open up the second stanza, the Trailblazers went on a 7-2 run to tie the score 39-39 at the 15:52 mark. From that point the Lancers would then take control of the contest and outscored MCLA 11-4 over the next three minutes of play to take a 50-43 lead (12:29).
The Trailblazers cut to advantage to five points twice at 10:18 (50-45) on a Broda field goal and again at 9:15 (52-47) on a junior Jade Prickett (Westhampton, MA) layup, but WSC tallied five unanswered points to take a 57-47 lead with eight minutes left to play. Worcester State doubled up MCLA with an 18-9 run over the next six minutes to build up their largest lead at 75-58 with 2:04 left to cruise ahead for the victory.
O'Keefe finished with 18 points and three made treys while Charette added 16 points. Junior Brianne Flanders (Southampton, MA) grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds while McCullough chipped in with 13 points and four steals. McGinness also ended the evening with eight points and seven rebounds (six offensive) in 18 minutes off the bench for the Lancers.
Dobrovolc recorded a team-best 17 points for MCLA while freshman Jen Wehner (Cooperstown, NY) and Broda poured in 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Worcester State dominated on the boards as they posted a 39-22 advantage with an 18-5 edge coming off the offensive glass. The Lancers also held a commanding 16-1 scoring margin in second chance points and a 38-16 lead in the paint.
WSC shot 49% from the field for the game while the Trailblazers were limited to just 39% (11-for-28) in the second stanza after connecting for 57% (12-for-21) from the floor in the opening period. MCLA did their damage from the free throw line as they connected for 16-for-21 from the charity stripe in the contest.
Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Salem State College withstood a furious second half rally as the Lady Vikings downed host Bridgewater State College, 61-55, in MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament action this evening from the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
With the win, number six seed Salem (10-16) advances to the semifinal round as they will take on second seeded Fitchburg State College on Friday night at Westfield State. Westfield is the top seed of the tournament and will host the semifinal round and championship game. Bridgewater State ends the 2008-2009 campaign with a record of 14-11.
Junior center Danielle Jenkins (Marlboro, MA) had a big game for the Lady Vikings as she posted a double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds. She also blocked six shots and recorded four steals.
Salem controlled play for the first 30 minutes of action. The Lady Vikings took a 29-20 lead into the intermission and used as 17-4 run over a seven minute span in the second half to go up by 22 points (50-28) with 9:51 remaining in the game.
Bridgewater then caught fire as the Bears used the hot three-point shooting of sophomore guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) and junior guard Brittney Chappron (Braintree, MA) to get back into the game. Cuddihy and Chappron combined for six three pointers over an eight-minute stretch as the Bears outscored the Lady Vikings 27-7 over that span. Chappron, who scored 13 points during the run, buried a trifecta to make it a two-point game (57-55) with just 44 second left.
After a Salem miss on the front end of a one-on-one free throw attempt, the Bears had the ball with a chance to tie or to take the lead. BSC however was unable to get off a quality shot on the possession and Jenkins knocked home four free throws in the final 24 seconds to give Salem the 61-55 victory.
Chappron paced the Bears with 15 points, five assists and three steals. Thirteen of her team-high 15 points came in the second half. Cuddihy added 14 points (12 in the second half) and four rebounds as she connected on 4 of 7 three-point attempts.
Junior guard Jakoya Wilkins (Dorchester, MA) chipped in with 11 points, six assists and four steals for Salem, while junior forward Katie Bielonko (Chicopee, MA) added 11 points and nine boards. MA).
The Bears shot just 33% for the game from the floor and made only eight trips (4-for-8) to the free throw line. After shooting 0-for-7 from three-point range, BSC did however battle back with a 7-for-14 performance from behind the arc in the second half. Bridgewater also held a 44-39 advantage on the boards with 19 rebounds coming off the offensive glass.