Framingham, MA --- The Framingham State trio of senior Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, MA), freshman Alycia Rackliffe (Feeding Hills, MA) and junior Nicole Bostic (Easton, MA) combined for 48 points as third-seeded the Rams advanced MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament with a 75-63 victory over sixth-seeded Worcester State this evening.
With the win, the Rams improve to 16-10 overall and advance to the Thursday's semifinal at second-seeded Westfield State at 7:00 PM. Worcester State, who had made five straight semifinal appearances, sees its campaign come to an end with a record of 9-17.
The hosts actually trailed 55-50 midway through the second half before rattling off 25 of the game's final 33 points. A 14-2 spurt, which was highlighted by six points each by Bostic and Rackliffe, gave the Rams an edge they did not relinquish the rest of the way.
The first half was well-played with six lead changes and only 11 turnovers between the two squads. Worcester State used eight consecutive points - including a pair of three-pointers, by sophomore Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) to jump out to an 8-2 advantage.
Two more trey's by junior Kelli McPherson (Mansfield, MA) put the Lancers up 18-11, but the Rams used seven points from Hoffman during a 19-8 spurt which helped the hosts to take a 37-36 edge into the locker room at the break.
Hoffman finished a rebound short of a double-double, tossing in a team-best 17 points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. Rackliffe netted 12 of her 16 points after halftime to go along with seven boards, three blocks and a pair of steals while Bostic recorded 10 of her 15 points after intermission.
Frankian led all players with 20 points while junior Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA) chipped in with 18 and McPherson ended up with nine. Senior Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) contributed six points and a team-leading seven rebounds while second-year Cheyenne Jennings (Worcester, MA/Wachusett) doled out a game-best five assists.
The two teams shot nearly identical from the floor, with Worcester State draining 25 of 54 (45 percent) tries and the hosts canning 25 of 55 (46 percent) attempts.
Framingham State was more effective getting to the free throw line, shooting 20 of 26 from the charity stripe while the Lancers were only 9 of 14 on the night.
The Blue and Gold also misfired on its final five three-pointers after sinking four of its first five over the opening 8:11 of the contest from beyond the arc.
The Rams also led in total rebounds (31-29), bench scoring (29-19) and points in the paint (40-22).
Burns ended her career with 1,136 points for 11th place on WSU's All-Time Scoring list and exactly 200 steals for the fourth-highest sum in program history.
Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Framingham State Sports Information
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