It was a story of redemption for the Framingham State Women’s basketball team in this year’s Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) final. After falling to Bridgewater State in last year’s conference championship game, the Rams scored a thrilling 63-59 victory on the road over the #1 seed Bears to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. 

The team was led by Tournament MVP Jacqueline Schels who scored 23 points and added 6 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Sophomore Faith Green had 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Rams, who finished the season 11-3 in conference play, with two of those losses coming against Bridgewater State.

In a back-and-forth game, the Rams took the lead just under two minutes into the fourth on a Yelle layup. Tied at 54-54 with 4:51 to go, the Bears used a layup to go up 56-54, but Schels responded with a three and Greene added a jumper putting the Rams up 59-56 with 1:57 to go. 

The Rams have now won the MASCAC Championship in four of the past six seasons under longtime head coach Walter Paschal.