By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team will seek to defend the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship this week.
The Bears are the No. 2 seed in the six-team field and will play a semifinal-round game Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Tinsley Center.
BSU (14-11, 10-2 MASCAC) will play the highest remaining seed following a pair of opening-round games on Tuesday night. The Bears' opponent will either be No. 3 Westfield State University (16-9, 9-3), No. 4 Salem State University (12-13, 5-7) or No. 5 Worcester State University (5-20, 4-8).
Framingham State University (22-2, 11-1) is the No. 1 seed and joins BSU with a bye while Fitchburg State University (5-20, 2-10) is the No. 6 seed and is at Westfield State.
The Bears rallied from a 23-point second-half deficit to overtake Westfield State in the 2023 title game, 64-59, and earn the program's seventh MASCAC tourney championship.
All but two players who received playing time in that win are back this season.
"The bulk of them were there last year and experienced everything that we went through, how we got there, coming back in the championship game," said coach Bridgett Casey. "They know that feeling. And most of them were on the team the year before when we lost in the finals (at Framingham State), so they know that feeling, too."
BSU had a chance to share the MASCAC regular-season crown this winter, but the Bears lost the final game last Wednesday night at Westfield State, 71-61. They had a 14-point lead in the second half and a seven-point edge with less than nine minutes to go but could not finish off the Owls.
The tournament will provide BSU the opportunity to that difficult end to the regular season, and its first opponent would be Westfield State if they Owls win Tuesday night.
"After last Wednesday's loss, I told them to remember this feeling that they're feeling," said Casey. "We have a week to turn things around and get right, or this feeling is going to be with us in the offseason. I think that's the motivating factor."
BSU has three double-digit scorers, led by junior Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.).
The reigning MASCAC player of the year leads the conference, averaging 20.7 points to go with 4.2 rebounds. She ranks sixth on the program's scoring list with 1,163 points.
Graduate student Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) averages 13.8 points. Bradbury is 17th at BSU with 1,037 points and is second in made 3-pointers in a season (73), two behind Hannah Dziadyk, who had 75 in 2019-20. Bradbury os also second in career 3-pointers (195), 15 behind Jenna Williamson.
Senior Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) averages 10 points and 5.7 rebounds.
Other key contributors include senior Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) with seven points, five rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) with 6.9 points and 5.2 rebounds, Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) with six points and 5.2 rebounds.
The Bears opened the MASCAC 7-0 before losing a one-point decision at Framingham State. They put together a three-game winning streak after that, then couldn't hold off Westfield State.
"I still feel pretty confident," said Casey. "There's still some things we need to fix, like tightening up defensively. Offensively, when there are droughts, we just have to put teammates in better positions to score. We have to capitalize on turnovers and converting them into points.
"We've struggled at times to stop a team and struggled at times with scoring. It's a double negative and that's what we're trying to fine tune this week."
BSU has a 7-1 record at the Tinsley Center, losing only the season opener to Babson College on Nov. 14. The Bears have gone 32-4 at home the past three seasons.
"The spirits are pretty high," said Casey. "They know they did not play well last Wednesday night.
"It's a huge motivating factor. We outright lost a share of the regular-season title by dropping that game. It's not sitting too well."
BSU won its first tourney title in 2008, then won five in a row from 2011-15 before last year's crown.
The last time a team won the MASCAC tournament after not finishing in first place during the regular season was BSU in 2015 after winding up in second place, four games out of the top spot.
The MASCAC championship game will be Saturday afternoon at the highest remaining seed with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division 3 tournament, which begins March 1-2.