SLIDESHOW: Rams Advance to Conference Champonship

By Larry Miller/Framingham State athletics

FRAMINGHAM, MA - The Framingham State women’s basketball team defeated Bridgewater State in the semi-final round of the 2016 MASCAC Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 67-62 thriller at a energetic Athletic Center Gymnasium Thursday evening.

The Rams improve to 19-6 and advance to face #1 Westfield State on Saturday afternoon for the MASCAC Championship. The Bears fall to 13-13 on the season.

The Rams were led by junior Monta Connolly, who registered a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebound shooting 6-of-9 from the field.

Quinn O’Connell added 12 points from the bench contributing to two of the Rams seven treys on the evening. Junior Alycia Rackliffe registered a game-high 14 rebounds while adding 8 points.

Chanelle Melton scored a game-high 22 points for the Bears.

Both teams traded leads early and often through the first half. An O’Connell buzzer-beater to close the 2nd quarter sent the teams to the break with the Bears leading 33-32.

Coming out of the break the Bears scored the first basket but the Rams then spun off a 12-1 run spanning nearly seven minutes to take a ten point advantage.

The Bears clawed their way back into the game and recaptured the lead early in the final quarter on a Whyte layup just over two minutes into the frame.

A moment later a Connolly layup followed up by an O’Connell three-pointer swung the momentum back in favor of the hosts.

Whyte again broke the Rams momentum hitting a trey of her own with 3:48 to play to cut the Rams lead to 59-56. After missed layups by both sides Connolly was fouled and made both of her free throws to push the lead to 5. The next possession Rams sophomore Raegan Mulherin sunk a three with just over two minutes to play to give the Rams a 64-56 advantage that the Bears would not be able to recover from.

The Rams were helped by their good shooting going 42 percent from the field and 41 percent from long range.

The Bears were 35 percent from the floor and 25 percent from beyond the arc.

The Bears did have the advantage in the turnover department forcing 20 turnovers by the Rams to just 12 for Bridgewater.

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Photo by Cummings Photography for Framingham Patch