Third seed Westfield State and fifth seed Worcester State are moving on to the semifinals of the 2023 MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament after coming out victorious Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round.

#3 Westfield State 84, #6 MCLA 46   Box Score

Westfield, Mass.- Westfield State junior forward Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds as the third-seeded Owls defeated sixth-seeded MCLA, 84-46 in the opening round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament at the Woodward Center on Tuesday evening.

Westfield improves to 17-9 overall, while MCLA ends its season with a 4-21 overall record.

With the win, Westfield advances to play at #2-seed Framingham State in the tournament semifinals on Thursday, February 23 with a 7:00 tip off at the Logan Gymnasium.

Westfield forced four turnovers in the first four minutes of the game, grabbing a 7-0 lead out of the gate as Octaviana Williams (Springfield, Mass./Minnechaug) banked in a runner at just 1:15 into the game.

Westfield led 25-10 at the end of the first quarter, shooting 60 percent (9-15) from the floor.

The Owls opened the second quarter with a 15-2 run, fueled by eight points from Grant, to take a commanding 40-12 lead.

Westfield led 50-20 at the half behind 12 points and five rebounds from Grant.  The Owls forced 28 turnovers from MCLA and came up with 21 steals in the half.  MCLA was led by seven points from Zaylee Ramos (Worcester, Mass./St. Paul).

The Owls had a 10-0 spurt to open the third quarter that boosted the lead up to 40, at 60-20.   MCLA’ s Kristie Zator (Windham, Conn./Parish) broke the run with a three pointer with 6:31 left in the third.

Grant finished 7-12 from the floor and 6-6 from the foul line and dished out four assists.  Lindsey Bohenko (Lowell, Mass./Central Catholic) added 12 and Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) nine points for the Owls. Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, Mass.), Amani Smith (Springfield, Mass./Central) and Hanna Sheldon (Taunton, Mass./Norton) each finished with eight in a balanced attack for Westfield in which 11 different players scored.  Lummus added five assists and six rebounds in a solid all-around performance.

Olivia Pressley (Cobleskill, NY) scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead MCLA, Zator finished with nine points. Ramos and Hailey Peabody (West Springfield, Mass.) each finished with seven points.

The Owls forced 43 turnovers for the game, which they converted into 56 points.

#5 Worcester State 80, #4 Salem State 57     Box Score

SALEM, Mass. – Salem State women's basketball hosted the Lancers of Worcester State University for the opening round of the MASCAC tournament. After 40 minutes of action the fifth seeded Lancers stole the 79-57 victory over the fourth seeded Vikings, putting an end to Salem State women's basketball 2022-23 season.

Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) and Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) paced the Lancers with 18 and 15 points, respectively, with teammate, Sarah Blomgren (Lunenburg, Mass.) pitching in 12 points and nine rebounds in the win.

The Vikings were led by Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.) who netted 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Alyssa Genness (Belgrade, Maine) notched 12 points of her own. Avery Clifford (Burriville, R.I.) added a career-high 13 points in the effort.

Releases courtesy of Westfield State and Salem State Sports Information