Bridgewater State Advances to MASCAC Championship Game

Box Score | Tournament Bracket

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. --- Senior guard Caitlin Feeney (Providence, RI) poured in 23 points and dished out 5 assists to lead host and top-seeded Bridgewater State College over No. 5 seed Westfield State (11-16), 70-60, in the semifinal round of the MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday evening.

The Bears (21-4) advance to the championship game versus No. 2 seeded Salem State tomorrow. Tip-off is slated for a 2 o'clock start at the Tinsley Center. Salem knocked off No. 3 Fitchburg State in the other semifinal game.

Senior forward Colleen Feeney (Providence, RI) notched her 23rd double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 1:40 remaining in the game. Sophomore guard Michaela Johnson (Riverside, RI) chipped in with 9 points and 6 rebounds off the bench while freshman guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) added 9 points in 15 minutes of action for BSC. Feeney scored 10 points in the second half while Johnson scored all nine of her points in the second half.

With her 16 points Colleen Feeney became the first player to reach the 500-point plateau in Bridgewater State College women's basketball history. As of tonight's game she has tallied 512 points for the Bears this year.

Junior forward Andrea Wasuk (Lenox, MA) led the way for Westfield State with a game-high 26 points which included 20 in the second half. Junior guard Katie Sylvain (Hadley, MA) had a great all-around game with 7 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds while her classmate Lauren Sylvain (Hadley, MA) registered 12 points off the bench for the Owls. Wasuk also corralled a team-best 9 rebounds for the visitors.

While the Owls were held to 18% (3-for-17) shooting from beyond the arc in the game, they shot 59% (16-for-27) from the field in the second half. Bridgewater State hit a 44% (23-for-52) field goal percentage while they also out-rebounded the Owls 37-26 in the game. BSC held a 17-8 rebounding edge coming off the offensive glass.

In the second half both teams were whistled for a combined 37 fouls, with 22 of them coming from Westfield State. Six players ended the game with four fouls while three players also fouled out. BSC struggled from the charity stripe shooting at a 62% (21-for-34) clip.

Bridgewater State jumped out to a 12-6 lead over the first eight minutes and then leading 15-8 the Bears went on a 5-0 run at the 9:38 mark holding the Owls scoreless for 4½ minutes. BSC built the lead up to 25-16 with 2:17 in the opening half and then closed out the stanza with a 5-2 run sending both teams into the locker room with the Bears holding the 30-18 advantage.

After the intermission, BSC built the lead up to its highest margin at 19 points with 10:35 remaining in the game (49-30). Westfield State then went on an 8-0 run and held the Bears scoreless for the next 2 ½ minutes of play (49-38). Despite struggling from the free throw line the Bears held a double-digit lead for the rest of the way.

Story Written By Steven M. Miller, Jr --- Sports Information Correspondent