Bridgewater, MA --- Bridgewater State senior Megan Boutilette (Charlton, MA) finished with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals to help key the Bears to a 59-45 victory over #3 Worcester State in the semifinals of the MASCAC women's basketball tournament at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears (17-10) will advance to their fifth consecutive MASCAC Tournament title game to take on Westfield State on Saturday at 12 PM.  The Lancers, who earned their 20th berth into the conference tournament semifinals, end their season at 15-10.

Junior Vanesa Conceicao (New Bedford, MA) also paced the hosts with 11 points, seven helpers, five boards and four swipes as senior Rachel Kusz (Worcester, MA/St. Peter-Marian) chipped in with 12 points on four trifectas.

Senior Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) led the Blue and Gold with 12 points while junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) corralled a season-best 22 rebounds to go with seven points, three assists and a trio of blocks.

Freshman Nani Perez (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) added nine points to go with five assists and senior Kelli McPherson (Mansfield, MA) poured in nine points on three triples.

The Bears led by as much as seven points on two occasions in a low scoring opening stanza. With the hosts holding the 17-10 edge following a trey by Kusz, Langford hit a jumper and McPherson drilled a three to help the Lancers trail by just two points.

BSU, however, got a lift at the end of the frame when Kusz drained another three-pointer with six ticks left in the stanza for the 20-15 margin at the intermission.

Bridgewater State came out of the locker room and utilized a 9-3 spurt to take over the 29-18 advantage just 3½ minutes into the period.

The hosts maintained double-digits throughout much of the first 10 minutes of the second half and took over the 45-30 score around the midway point.

With things looking bleak for Worcester State, the visitors used a 10-3 run, with five points by Frankian, to whittle the deficit down to eight points. Senior Kiesha Jones (Worcester, MA/Doherty) finished off the surge with a lay-up to help the Lancers narrow the gap to 48-40 with 6:02 remaining in regulation.

But Kutz responded for the Bears with a triple and Boutilette canned a field goal to put the hosts back into double digits as the Blue and Gold did not threaten again for the remainder of the contest.  

For the game, Bridgewater State hit 41 percent overall (23-for-55), which included a 52 percent effort in the second stanza alone (14-for-27). The Bears defense also forced 23 miscues with 19 swipes to finish with a 15-10 margin in points off turnovers.

Worcester State was held to a 30 percent clip from the field for the contest (16-for-54) and did not make the most of their opportunities at the free throw line (53 percent – 9-for-17). The Blue and Gold, however, did finish with margins in total rebounds (42-30), offensive caroms (15-6) and second-chance baskets (10-5).