Jen Ashton, receiving the game ball from coach Andrea Bertini for scoring her 1,000th career point, was selected to the MASCAC all-conference first team. Bertini was named the MASCAC coach of the year.
WESTFIELD – Westfield State University women’s basketball standout Jen Ashton (Beverly, Mass.) was named first team all-conference and Owl head coach Andrea Bertini was selected the conference coach of the year.
Ashton is averaging 12.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.4 steals heading into Thursday’s tournament semifinal home game vs. Framingham State. The multi-dimensional junior guard leads the conference in assists, steals and free throw shooting (79 percent). Ashton was a second-team all-conference selection during her freshman and sophomore seasons and the 2012 MASCAC Rookie of the Year.
Bertini guided the Owls to a share of the MASCAC regular season championship despite the absence of leading scorer and rebounder Gabby Felix from the lineup for most of the conference games.
Junior Rachael Carter of Salem State was named the 2013-14 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and heads the All-Conference team which is voted on by the seven coaches around the conference.
Leading the MASCAC in scoring at the end of the regular season, Carter was first in points per game for the Vikings (20.9), second in rebounds per game (8.6) and fourth in field goal percentage (43). This is the second time the Merrimack, N.H. native has been named to the All-Conference squad after receiving second team honors as a freshman in 2012.
Alycia Rackliffe of Framingham State has been named the 2013-14 MASCAC Rookie of the Year after a freshman campaign that saw her lead the team in rebounds (9.1) and finish with the second most points averaged (13.6) for the Rams. Earlier this year, the Feeding Hills, Mass. resident was named the MASCAC Rookie of the Year for volleyball as well as making the All-Conference first team.
Landing on the 2013-14 MASCAC first-team All-Conference squad with Carter were Bridgewater State’s Jenna Williamson, Fitchburg State’s Amy Fahey, Framingham State’s Kristen Hoffman and Ashton.
The 2013-14 MASCAC second-team is comprised of Bridgewater State’s Elisha Homich, Fitchburg State’s Laura Cote, Framingham State’s Rackliffe, Salem State’s Ginny Fleming and Worcester State’s Meaghan Burns.
The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the nation’s first Division III men’s and women’s playing conference, has a rich and storied tradition of competitive success while celebrating excellence in the classroom. MASCAC core member schools include Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, MCLA, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Salem State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University.
Two other institutions, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Plymouth State University, are affiliate members of the conference in the sports of football and men’s ice hockey, while Western Connecticut State University joined the conference as an affiliate member in football beginning in 2013-14.
