MASCAC SEMFINALS: Women's Basketball Rally Falls Short at Framingham State, 60-56

THE BASICS

No. 4 Salem State, 56 at No. 2 Framingham State, 60

Records: 

Salem State University Vikings (13-14) 

Framingham State University Rams (16-10)

Location: Framingham, Mass.

Date: Friday, February 27, 2026 

THE LEAD — The No. 4 seed Salem State women's basketball team saw its season come to an end Friday evening in a hard-fought 60-56 loss at No. 2 seed Framingham State. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Early in the first, both sides matched each other's play on the offensive end. Salem grabbed its first lead of the contest with 03:56 left in the first thanks to an Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.) layup. The squad pushed its lead up to four in the first (9-5), but the Rams retook the lead with 41 seconds left in the frame when Kelsey Yelle made a lay-in.
• Even with a late Kylie Schrock (Rockport, Mass.) bucket with 16 seconds left for an 11-10 lead, Jacqueline Schels knocked down a three with five seconds left and took a 13-11 advantage into the second. 
• In the second quarter, Framingham's offense started fast, scoring five unanswered points to take an 18-11 lead, prompting Salem to call a timeout. Coming out of the break, the Vikes trimmed the deficit to three (18-15) thanks to back-to-back buckets from Goncalves with 05:11 left until halftime. 
• Despite pulling within three, the hosts ended up outscoring Salem the rest of the quarter, 15-4, for a 33-19 lead at the half. Schels led the scoring surge with five points.
• Framingham continued its momentum to start the third when a Faith Greene free throw made it an 11-point game (36-25), but the Vikings would not go quietly. The squad made it a five-point game courtesy of an 8-2 run highlighted by a three-pointer from Sunali Carter (Brockton, Mass.), which made it 38-33. However, Framingham would not let Salem get any closer the rest of the frame by finishing the third on a 9-3 stretch for a 47-36 lead heading into the fourth.
• The fourth quarter saw a resilient Salem squad as the Blue and Orange surged back and tied the contest at 52 with 03:17 left to play, thanks to a 16-5 rally. Goncalves led the stretch with six points.
• After Framingham answered back with a bucket from Greene, Salem once again tied things at 54 on a Goncalves layup, which led to a Rams timeout at 02:09. Out of the break, Framingham pushed its advantage to four (58-54) but the Vikes once again made it a one possesion game (58-56) thanks to another Goncalves lay up with 32 seconds left.
• Despite the late Salem bucket, the Rams ended up holding on by knocking down two free throws from Zaria Anderson for the eventual 60-56 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Goncalves led Salem with 21 points and also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. She finished with 16 doubles-doubles this season and overall 56 for her career.
• Salem's other double-digit scorer was Yamilette Guerrero (Salem, Mass.), who ended the day with 12 points. 
• Schels led all scorers with 24 points and a team-high 13 boards.
• The Rams saw two others finish with 10 or more points, with Greene and Anderson scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. 
• Framingham shot a perfect 14-14 from the free throw line on Friday.
• The Vikings ended the season with 13 wins and have now won 10-plus games in four-straight seasons. 
• In the regular season, Salem and Framingham split their season series.