WESTFIELD, Mass. – March Madness begins a week early as Westfield State women's and men's basketball host a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament doubleheader, with a pair of semifinal-round games at the Woodward Center on Thursday evening.
Kicking off the doubleheader will be the Owls women's team as they host the third-seeded Worcester State Lancers at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Owl men's tip against Salem State at 7:30 p.m.
Both women's teams enter hot, as the second-seeded Owls and the third-seeded Lancers are currently on five-game winning streaks.
The Owls begin the chase for a fifth straight conference tournament title, as this game is a rematch from last year's MASCAC championship game,where the Owls beat the Lancers 84-73 in Worcester to clinch the Owls' fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid.
Worcester State was able to set up this matchup thanks to a 73-44 win over Fitchburg State on Tuesda,y February 25, in the opening round of the tournament. Leading the way was senior guard Mya Mosley with 19 points on 8-12 shooting followed by senior guard Sam Ellis with 11 points off the bench.
The Owls won both regular-season matchups against the Lancers, but two different types of games. Westfield State won the first game, 88-55, on the road on January 14 followed by an 87-80 victory at the Woodward Center February 5. In both games, junior forward Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) scored a double-double in points and rebounds and the team scored a combined 64 points off 61 Lancer turnovers.
The Owls continue to lean on their nationwide-bests of 32.5 turnovers forced per-game, 19.6 steals-per-game, and 328 three-pointers made. Gray continues to lead the team rwith a conference-high 20.8 points-per-game and nation's best 4.6 steals-per-game. Senior Chelsea Moussette (Southampton, Mass.) is sixth in the nation with 6.6 assists-per-game and is averaging a career-high 11.8 points-per-game.
For the Lancers, Mosley has been on fire as of late; scoring double figures in her last eight games. . Her 16.3 points-per-game leads the Lancers. The Owls will also have to contain junior Gigi LeMay, who put up a career-high 32 points the last time the Owls and the Lancers played each other.
Following that matchup will another MASCAC championship rematch in the semifinals for men's basketball. The fifth-seeded Salem State Vikings will face the top-seeded Westfield State Owls at 7:30 p.m. for a chance to make the MASCAC championship game for the second straight year. Last year saw Salem State beat Westfield State,66-57 in the Twohig Gymnasium to win the conference tournament title and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Vikings were able to knock off #4 Bridgewater State,89-78 on the road in the opening round on Tuesday to keep the Vikings' season alive. Using their size to their advantage, the Salem State outrebounded the Bears 44-28 and outscored the Bears in the paint 54-28, but they have a tough task ahead to try and break the Owls' six-game winning streak.
In the regular-season, these teams played twice and the Owls won both matchups decisively, 98-69 on January 25 in Westfield and 86-63 on February 19 in Salem. In both matchups, the Vikings only had two scorers score in double figures, and were outscored in the paint by the Owls.
The Owls earned the number one seed in part thanks to sensational play from senior guard Vawn Lord (Amherst, Mass.), who scored 44 points the last time the Owls played the Vikings.
Following that performance with 31 points in the regular-season finale against MCLA, Lord is averaging 19.8 points-per-game, good for third in the MASCAC. Along with Lord is senior forward Jauch Green, Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) who has been nearly as productive on the offensive end. Green contributed 27 points in the Owls' last game versus Salem State and has averaged the fourth-most points-per-game in the league on the season at 17.7.
Senior forward Hakeem Animashaun has been dominant for the Vikings averaging the most points (23.7) and rebounds-per-game (12.5) in the conference. He added a 33-point, 11-rebound performance against Bridgewater on Tuesday. Freshman guard Jaden Castillo add 11 points-per-game and sophomore Chris MacDonald adds 10.3 points-per-game.
Ticket prices for Westfield State home games are $6 for adults, and $3 for senior citizens and non-Westfield State students. Westfield State students, and children 12 and under are admitted free.
Those who can't make the games can get live video and stats on www.westfieldstateowls.com or watch on MASCAC.tv on Roku, Amazon Fire or AppleTV.
-- Written by Joe Braverman, Sports Information Intern