BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The 2022-2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women's basketball award winners were announced on Wednesday and the MASCAC regular season and tournament champion Bears of Bridgewater State University picked up some hardware.

Head Coach Bridgett Casey was voted by her peers as the MASCAC Coach of the Year, while sophomore forward Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) was selected as the MASCAC Player of the Year and senior forward Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) earned MASCAC Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

Grassi and Gaucher were also named to the All-MASCAC First Team, while junior guard Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) was chosen to the All-MASCAC Second Team.

Both Gaucher and Tripp are making their first appearance on the All-MASCAC Team while Grassi was a second team selection a year ago. The coach of the year award marks the fifth of Casey's career as she also garnered the honor in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013.

Casey guided the Bears to their first MASCAC regular season title since 2014 and first tournament crown since 2015. The Bears (21-6) will be heading to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 11th time in program history and first since 2015.

Casey sports a career coaching mark of 377-280 (.574) in 26 years behind the BSU bench including a conference regular season record of 195-105 (.650). She has reached the 20-win mark five times including each of the last two seasons. Casey's 377 wins are by far the most in program history as she is the only BSU women's basketball coach to not only reach the 300-win milestone but also the 200-win plateau.

Grassi, the Bears' first MASCAC Player of the Year since Colleen Feeney in 2008, is averaging 17.3 points, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals in 26 games this season while shooting 42.7% (149-349) from the field and 82.5% (127-154) at the free throw line. She presently ranks second among the conference leaders in both scoring and free throw percentage, sixth in steals, ninth in field goal percentage and blocked shots (0.7 bpg), and tenth in assists.

In 48 games over her first two seasons in a BSU uniform, Grassi has amassed 657 points, 198 rebounds, 110 assists, 28 blocks and 89 steals. She is a career 80.5% (182-226) shooter at the free throw line.

Gaucher is averaging 8.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists over 25 games while shooting 48.7% (77-158) from the floor, 41.2% (21-51) from behind the arc and 78.2% (43-55) at the charity stripe. She ranks fifth in the MASCAC in field goal percentage, eighth in rebounds and ninth in offensive rebounds (2.7 rpg).

In 60 games over three seasons at Bridgewater State, Gaucher has recorded 407 points, 274 rebounds, 95 assists, 14 blocks and 51 steals. She is a career 47.4% (143-302) shooter with a 37.8% (31-82) clip from three-point range.

Through 27 games this season, Tripp is averaging 8.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.8 steals. She is also shooting 45% (100-222) from the floor. She currently ranks fourth in the MASCAC in assists and seventh in field goal percentage.

In 45 games over two seasons with the Bears, Tripp has amassed 332 points, 189 rebounds, 181 assists, 23 blocks and 77 steals.

The BSU women's basketball team will travel to Messiah University in Grantham, Pennsylvania to take on the 11th ranked Falcons in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday night at seven o'clock.

2022-2023 MASCAC Women's Basketball All-Conference Team (PDF)