2023 WBB Tournament Bracket

After claiming the MASCAC Regular Season title, the Bridgewater State Bears earn the top seed in the 2023 MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament which begins on Tuesday with the quarterfinal round.

Starting the tournament off with the quarterfinal round, #3 Westfield State hosts #6 MCLA while #4 Salem State hosts #5 Worcester State both at 7:30 pm. #2 Framingham State will host the winner of Westfield State/MCLA at 7 pm on Thursday, February 23 in the semifinals while #1 Bridgewater State will host the winner of Salem State/Worcester State at 7:30 pm.

The two semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, February 25 for the MASCAC Tournament title at the highest remaining seed with a time to be determined. The champion will earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament as the league’s automatic qualifier.

The Bears grabbed the top seed and the regular season crown after going 10-2 during the conference schedule. Leading the way for the team is Kylie Grassi who closed out the regular season at the top of the MASCAC in points per game (17.5), total points (421), free throw percentage (81 percent), steals (51), assists (72) and blocks (17).

Taking home the other first round bye with the second seed is Framingham State. The Rams ended the regular season at 9-3. Flannery O’Connor averaged a double-double of 17.7 points per game and 10.2 rebounds. Her average points per game were first while rebounds second at the end of the regular season. She also was in the top five in field goal percentage (51.5), free throw percentage (78.2), total rebounds (194) and blocks (21).

Westfield State earned the third seed and quarterfinal hosting duties after going 9-3 in league play. The Owls were led by the duo of Olivia Hadla and Jordan Grant who averaged 16.1 points per game during the regular season. Grant finished with the second-best offensive rebounds at 96 and fourth-best field goal percentage at 49.6 percent while Hadla had the second-most total points at 403 and fourth-most steals at 59.

With the final hosting gig, Salem State is the fourth seed. The Vikings had a 6-6 mark during MASCAC action. In her first season with the team, Ernidia Goncalves averaged 12.3 points and 8.7 rebounds while leading the conference in offensive rebounds (119) and blocks (47) plus second in total rebounds (201).

Coming in with the final two spots in the tournament are Worcester State and MCLA with the fifth and sixth seed, respectively. Erin Gallella led the Lancers in points per game with 11.8 while collecting the third-most assists (110) and steals (65). For the Trailblazers, Zaylee Ramos had a solid start to her college career, averaging 12.4 points with a 70.6 free throw percentage. She also grabbed 132 rebounds, 30 steals and 34 assists.   

At last season’s MASCAC Championship, top seeded Framingham State defeated second seed Bridgewater State 84-69 to not only win the title but advance to the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.