By Glen Farley, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- In the case of the Bridgewater State University women’s basketball team, the “M” in MASCAC doesn’t stand for Massachusetts.

It stands for March.

Once again, “March Madness” has arrived on the BSU camps; yes, once again, veteran head coach Bridgett Casey’s Bears will represent the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Saturday’s 60-57 upset win at top-seeded Westfield State in the MASCAC Women's Basketball Championship Game earned the Bears the conference’s automatic bid to this year’s field of 64.

On Monday, BSU (16-10) learned it will be traveling to Salisbury, Md., to play host Salisbury University (25-2) in an opening-round game at the Maggs Physical Activities Center on Friday night (time to be announced).

Richard Stockton College (21-6) will take on McDaniel College (24-3) in Friday night’s other first-round matchup at Salisbury.

The two first-round winners will advance to play a second-round game on Saturday night.

The upcoming bus trip to Maryland represents the Bears’ fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, their sixth in the last eight years under Casey (her first was 2007-2008) and 10th overall (they had four straight from 1983-1986).

“We wanted one more week of craziness,” said Casey, “and we got it.”

Now, Casey says, the Bears are further driven.

“It’s great that we get there, but we’re still striving to get that first NCAA win,” said Casey. “So there will be a lot of paying attention to detail this week in practice and film breakdown to make sure we have all of our i’s dotted and t’s crossed, are ready for everything, and at the same time keeping the kids level headed.

“A lot of kids on the team have been here before, but at the same time they’re sick of being one and done. It’s great to be here, it’s a great experience, but they would really love to get that first win during my 18 years.”

According to Casey, this year’s tournament berth is a testament to this team’s work ethic.

“It’s really a hard-working group of girls and we have a hard-working staff (Casey is assisted by Colleen Feeney and Matt McLaughlin),” the coach said. “Focusing and paying attention to detail have been key.”

To be sure, it has been an uneven season for the Bears, who suffered six of their losses during a nine-game span from the first week of December through mid-January and three others during a losing streak in February.

The Bears enter NCAA Tournament play having won four straight games.

“We started out well, hit a couple of speed bumps during the season, but got right back on track,” said Casey.

The Bears are led by senior forward Megan Boutilette, whose 11.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.6 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game earned her MASCAC first-team honors this year.

The program’s all-time leader in rebounds (899), steals (338), field-goal percentage (.534) and games played (110), Boutilette had 16 points, five rebounds, four steals, two blocked shots and two assists before fouling out with 9:52 to play at Westfield.

“She’s the key to our inside game,” said Casey. “She’s the key to opening up our outside availability to get shots off by (senior guard) Rachel Kusz. So if she can really establish that inside presence early I think that opens up the outside game for us, which is going to be very, very key.

“But opponents are going to break us down, they’re going to try to take away our first and second option, so that’s why I think it’s important for us to make sure the rest of the team knows their roles, knowing that they’re going to try to shut down our top two players.”

Lacking Boutilette, it was Kusz who stepped up against Westfield, hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with 37 seconds to play to also finish with 16 points, earning the tournament’s MVP award.

With four 3-pointers in Saturday’s game, Kusz pushed her total this year to 62 from beyond the arc, a BSU single-season record.

Averaging 9.9 points per game, Kusz is third on the team behind Boutilette and sophomore forward Chanelle Melton.

A Brockton High School product, Melton ranks second to Boutilette in both points (11.0) and rebounds (5.3) per game.

Junior guard Vanesa Conceicao (11 points and four assists versus Westfield; 9.7 points, 4.2 steals and 3.5 rebounds per game) and Melissa Daigle, a senior guard from Rockland who is chipping in with 4.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, round out the Bears’ starting five.

Sophomore forward Jennie Lindland (6.7 points in 19.0 minutes per game), freshman center Christina Jaros (5.2 rebounds per game) from Plymouth South and sophomore guard Chelsea Saucier have led the Bears’ contributors off the bench.