Women's Basketball heads to Bridgewater in MASCAC Quarterfinal Round

MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket

North Adams, MA-- The MCLA Women's Basketball team is seeded seventh in this week's MASCAC Women's Basketball Championship.  The Trailblazers will be traveling on Tuesday night to the #2 seed, the Bridgewater State University Bears.  The Bears swept the Trailblazers during the regular season.

After going a perfect 12-0 in conference play for the second straight time, Framingham State has claimed the top seed in the MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament which begins on Tuesday.

The tournament will feature all seven MASCAC basketball teams with the first round of games on Tuesday, February 22.  Along with MCLA's contest, the #4 Worcester State Lancers are hosting #5 Salem State at 5:30 pm and #3 Westfield State hosting #6 Fitchburg State at 7 pm. #1 Framingham State will entertain the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals while all the first round winners will move on to the semifinals on Thursday, February 24. The two semifinal winners will meet at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, February 26 for the tournament championship.

The top seeded Rams won their second straight MASCAC regular season crown with an undefeated league record. The team was led by Flannery O'Connor who closed out the regular season averaging a double-double of 18.3 points and 10.8 rebounds while also collecting 42 blocks, 37 steals, 32 assists while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. For her efforts in the week ending January 30, she was named the USBWA DIII National Player of the Week.

Bridgewater State earned the second seed and first round hosting rights with a 10-2 mark in league action. Guard Sydney Bradbury led the Bears with 12.3 points per game while also tallying 116 rebounds, 75 assists, 33 steals and the third best three point percentage in the MASCAC at 35.7 percent.

Earning the third seed and the chance to host a first round match-up is Westfield State who was 8-4 at the end of the MASCAC campaign. Melissa Gray ended the regular season averaging the most points per game with 20.8 while shooting a league-leading 38.9 percent from beyond the arc. She also collected 158 rebounds, 78 steals and 47 assists.

Hosting the final first round game is Worcester State who was 6-6 to grab the fourth seed. Gigi LeMay averaged a double-double of 15.8 points and 11.1 rebounds for the third-best mark in the conference. She also had 70 steals, 70 assists and 16 blocks. 

Salem State is the fifth seed in this week's tournament after winning four conference games. The Vikings are led by Liz Zaiter who finished with double digit points and rebounds with 15.8 points and 10.1 rebounds, respectively. She blocked 18 shots and added 17 steals and assists. 

The Fitchburg State lands in the sixth seed while MCLA is the seventh seed to round out this year's tournament field. Jadelen Harold averaged the team's most points per game with 10.7 while also averaging eight rebounds a contest. She registered 32 assists, 17 blocks and 10 steals. For the Trailblazers, Brooke DiGennaro led the way, averaging 15.7 points per game while collecting 54 rebounds, 48 steals and 24 assists.

During the last MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament in 2020, top seeded Framingham State defeated third seed Worcester State to claim their first MASCAC Tournament crown with the 66-51 victory.