BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Senior forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) tallied a game-best 18 points on an 8-for-10 effort from the field to help lead top-seeded Bridgewater State to a 74-59 victory over #5 Worcester State in the semifinals of the MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament this evening at the Tinsley Center.
Bridgewater (18-7) will be making its third appearance in the MASCAC title game in the last five years as the Bears will host number three seed MCLA tomorrow at 2:00 PM. MCLA knocked off second-seeded Salem State in the other semifinal matchup, 95-79. The Lancers see their season come to a close at 13-14.
Senior forward Monica-Sabina Bharoocha (N. Smithfield, RI) also paced the hosts with 17 points as sophomore guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, MA) added 16. Second-year forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, MA) grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds and freshman forward Alana Watkins (Wareham, MA) chipped in with 10 points in 21 minutes.
Junior Michaela Cosby (Walpole, MA) did a little bit of everything as she pulled down eight boards, scored seven points, dished out a game-high six helpers and stole two balls.
Sophomore guard Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) led the Lancers with 15 points and three assists while senior guard Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) finished with 14 points and eight caroms. Junior center Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) recorded her seventh double-double in the last 10 games with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Bridgewater State used a tenacious full-court press to jump out to an 18-0 lead eight minutes into the contest. The Bears forced 11 turnovers and turned eight steals and into 14 easy points.
The Lancers, however, would make their first field goal on a Burns lay-up with 12:04 on the clock and go on a 10-4 run to trail by 12 with 10:22 remaining (22-10).
As Worcester State trailed 28-17 with 6:23 left, the BSU offense was ignited by three consecutive threes – with two from Williamson and another by DePina – to end the first period with a 17-4 surge and the commanding 45-21 lead at the break.
Williamson and Bharoocha combined for 25 points in the stanza as the Bears connected for 62 percent of their shots and missed just 11 field goal attempts. In addition to missing their first five bids from the field to start off the contest, the Blue and Gold shot a porous 25 percent for the period (7-for-28).
After a Charette jumper that cut the deficit to 22 points early in the second half, Bridgewater State outscored their opponents 13-5 to balloon their lead to 30 (58-28) and to put the game well out of reach with 12:58 remaining.
With the game no longer in doubt, the Lancers used a late 16-1 push to trail 74-59 with 90 seconds remaining, but ultimately came up short for what was the final score.
The hosts finished hitting for a 57 percent clip from the field as they also dished out 23 assists for 30 field goal attempts and led in points off turnovers (22-20).
Both teams were even in rebounds (32-32) while the Lancers led in second-chance points (23-6) and offensive boards (16-7)
With her 18 points, DePina moved past Caitlin Feeney (1,098 points) into fifth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as she now has 1,115 career points.
Charette wraps up her outstanding four-year career with 1,178 points which is good for ninth on the Worcester State All-Time Scoring list.
The Blue and Gold is now 0-6 all-time against Bridgewater State in the MASCAC Tournament.