Women's Basketball Falls to Framingham State, 59-58

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team no longer owns sole possession of the top spot in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The Bears fell into a first-place tie with Framingham State University after being edged by the Rams, 59-58, at Logan Gymnasium Wednesday night.

BSU (11-10 overall) was handed its first MASCAC loss and is now 7-1, even with Framingham State (18-2) with four games remaining.

The Rams took the lead with 17 seconds left on a layup by Flannery O'Connor (Amesbury, Mass.) after the Bears had missed a layup and two foul shots while holding a 56-55 lead with just over 30 seconds to go.

BSU had a chance to retake the lead but missed a layup with seven seconds remaining. Gwendolyn Carpenter (Ashley Falls, Mass.) made two free throws, giving Framingham State a 58-55 lead with 5.5 seconds left.

The Bears had a chance to tie the game, only to miss a corner 3-pointer, and BSU's Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) converted an offensive rebound at the buzzer.

Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) was the Bears' top scorer with 17 points to go with five rebounds.

Grassi, the MASCAC's leading scorer, became just the eight BSU women's player to score more than 1,100 points. The junior is now eighth on the all-time scoring list with 1,104 after passing Elisha Homich (1,090), Michaela Cosby (1,092) and Caitlin Feeney (1,098) during the loss to Framingham State.

Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 13 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Bradbury is now at 962 career points.

Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) contributed nine points and four rebounds for BSU, which had won five straight games.

Framingham State, which is riding a six-game winning streak, was led by Kelsey Yelle (Easton, Mass.) with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and 12 rebounds.

Carpenter added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists while Chloe Rayko (Coventry, R.I.) scored 10 points and O'Connor had nine points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

The Bears shot just 32 percent and went 4-for-14 from 3-point range while missing 7 of 19 foul shots. The Rams shot 39 percent and had 17 turnovers but held a 50-36 rebounding edge.

BSU trailed, 44-41, entering the fourth quarter but went on a 12-4 run in the opening 4:53 to take a 53-48 lead.

Cleveland had a layup, Grassi converted a three-point play, made a layup, and hit two foul shots and Bradbury connected on a 3-pointer.

But Framingham State scored five straight points to tie the game at 53 with 3:14 remaining. A Gaucher layup and a foul shot by Grassi put the Bears up, 56-53, with 2:14 to go.

Yelle hit two free throws to get the Rams within 56-55 before O'Connor put them ahead in the closing seconds.

BSU trailed, 18-17, after one quarter. The Bears opened the game on a 7-2 run, then fell behind, 16-11, when the Rams scored nine straight points. A layup by Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) pulled BSU within a point after one quarter.

The Rams led, 26-25, at the half as both teams scored just eight points each in the second quarter.

There were six lead changes in the quarter, and the Rams were 4-for-19 with five turnovers while the Bears missed nine of 13 shots.

Framingham State led, 44-41, after three quarters after being up by as many as 11 points.

With the game tied, 28-28, the Rams scored 10 straight points in less than three minutes. The Bears were down, 43-32, with 3:07 to go in the quarter, but they closed with a 9-1 run to get within three. Bradbury hit a 3-pointer to get it started.

BSU is on the road again Saturday for a noon game against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Framingham State is at Salem State on Saturday at noon.