Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

WORCESTER, Mass. - Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven) had team highs of 10 points and 10 rebounds and Reilly O'Keefe (Warren) scored eight points, including the game-winning basket with 27 seconds remaining, to lead Worcester State to a hard-earned 51-47 victory over Westfield State in the quarterfinals of the MASCAC women's basketball tournament.

Worcester (14-12) , the No. 3 seed, advances to the semifinals and will face No. 2 seed Salem State on Friday at Bridgewater State at 8:00 p.m. Westfield, the No. 6 seed and last year's MASCAC regular season and tournament champions, finishes 10-16.

The Owls tied the score at 47-all on a 3-point basket by freshman guard Briana Kelly (Hampden) with 1:37 remaining.

After a missed layups by Worcester's Bri Flanders (Southampton) and Westfield's Kelly, the Lancers dumped the ball into Reilly O'Keefe on the block and she scored to make it 49-47 with 27 seconds remaining.

O'Keefe was fouled on the play and missed the free throw, but the Lancers grabbed their first of three offensive rebounds in the game's critical juncture.

Worcester missed the front end of two one-on-ones following the first two offensive boards before Becca Giguere (West Brookfield) sealed the victory by making two free throws with 12 seconds remaining.

Both teams played in-your-face defense and each shot was heavily contested in the electric playoff atmosphere,

Worcester only led 21-17 at halftime and trailed by as many as five points, 11-6, at the 13:25 mark. Westfield only shot 14 percent (4-for-29) from the field in the first half but stayed within striking distance as Worcester committed 16 first-half turnovers.

Westfield did not make a field goal and was outscored 7-1 in the final eight minutes of the first half.

The Lancers led for most of the second half, with its biggest lead six points. Westfield finally tied the score at 40-all on a driving layup by Molly Brogan (Mendon) and took its only second-half lead, 42-40, with 3:42 remaining when freshman guard Jenny Bell (Northampton) converted a steal into a layup.

Worcster then regained the lead with a quick 5-0 scoring spurt on a Giguere jumper and a conventional 3-point play from Charette following a beautiful baseline drive.

Meaghen O'Keefe (Warren) - a 6-1 freshman reserve center - was effective inside scoring eight points, making 4 of 5 field goal attempts. Giguere also tallied eight points in the Lancers' balanced attack and Flanders contributed six points and nine rebounds.

Worcster shot 49 percent from the field, including 57 percent in the second half, but Westfield stayed closed by forcing 28 Lancer turnovers. Worcester also held a huge edge on the glass, 42-27.

Junior forward Ashley Finnegan (Worcester) scored a game-high 14 points for the Owls while Kelly finished with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Owls shot 29 percent from the field and only committed 12 turnovers.

Courtesy MCLA Sports Information

North Adams, MA- The MCLA women's basketball team rode the inside presence of sophomore forward Jen Wehner (Cooperstown, NY), who tallied 22 points, 15 boards, and 6 blocks in a convincing 63-47 MASCAC Quarterfinal victory over visiting Framingham State. With the win, MCLA improves to 16-9, and will move on to face top seeded Bridgewater in the semifinals on Friday.   Framingham State finishes the season with a record of 10-13.

Aside from Wehner, MCLA also recieved a season high 13 points off the bench from sophomore guard Alie Dobrovolc (Little Falls, NY), while freshman guard Lucy Tremblay (East Greenbush, NY) added 11.  Senior Laura Silverman (Ballston Lake, NY) had a solid effort contributing nine rebounds, five on the offensive end.

The Rams were paced by freshman Kia Minor's (Oak Bluffs, MA) 12 points, while senior Toya Chester finished with 10.

Both teams came out sluggish in the opening minutes.  With MCLA holding a one point advantage after 4 minutes of play, the hosts would use a 14-5 run to take a ten point edge at 17-7 with 5:49 to play.  Wehner tallied six points in the spurt.  After the Rams trimmed the advantage to six (20-14) with 1:13 left, the Trailblazers would score the final five points of the half to take a 25-14 lead into the locker room.

Out of the locker room, MCLA quickly extended the lead to fourteen at 31-17 with 18:16 to play.  Framingham would have an answer though, as consecutive three pointers from Minor and junior forward Jill Johnson (Mansfield, MA) would trim the lead to eight.  

Following a MCLA timeout, the Trailblazers would go on a 6-0 run of their own, pushing the lead back to 14.  Once again the Rams would mount a rally going on a 7-0 spurt, making the score 37-30 with 14:28 on the clock.  This is as close as the Rams would get the remainder of the night.

MCLA would go on a 10-3 run to push the lead back to fourteen with under ten minutes to play.  The lead would grow to as many as sixteen on separate occasions as Framingham could not get back into the game.

Both teams struggled throughout to put the ball in the basket as both teams defended well.  Framingham shot just 30% on the night, while MCLA could only muster 35% from the floor.

MCLA hurt the Rams off the glass, outrebounding the visitors 53-40, including 19 on the offensive end.    

MCLA, which entered the postseason as the fourth seed, will now play top seeded Bridgewater Friday night in Bridgewater.