O’Day, O’Connor & Paschal Grab MASCAC Annual Honors; Three Rams Named to Women’s Basketball All-MASCAC Teams
Framingham, Mass.- Framingham State senior guard Mary Kate O'Day (Berlin, Mass.) has been named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Freshman Flannery O'Connor (Amesbury, Mass.) has been named MASCAC Rookie of the Year, Rams Head Coach Walter Paschal was chosen as the Champion's Choice Coach of the Year and senior Emily Velozo (Tewksbury, Mass.) has been chosen to the All-MASCAC First Team.
After leading her team to their first ever MASCAC Championship and undefeated MASCAC reguale season O'Day earned MASCAC Player of the Year honors for the second time in her career. The senior led the league in free throw percentage (83%) was second in rebounds (232), points per game (18.4) and three-point percentage (41.2%). O'Day who earns her third All-MASCAC first team honors ranks second all-time in career points for the Rams.
O'Connor earns Rookie of the Year accolades after being chosen by the conference as the Rookie of the Week ten times this season, also earning NEWBA Rookie of the Week two times. O'Connor led the MASCAC in field goal percentage (57%) and was top five in free throw percentage (69%), rebounds (228) and blocked shots (45) earning a spot on the All-MASCAC second team.
Paschal was recognized by the coaches around the league as the Champion's Choice Coach of the Year after leading his squad to a 12-0 finish in the MASCAC Regular Season and clean sweep of the MASCAC Tournament. The Rams currently sit at 22-5 on the season and have won 14 straight contests. Paschal in his 7th season at the helm of the Rams has a record of 128-58 on the bench for Framingham State and is 234-111 including his 14 seasons at Fitchburg State.
Senior Emily Velozo earns first team All-MASCAC honors after a stellar senior season. She was named MASCAC Player of Week three times and D3hoops.com Team of the Week honoree once. Velozo led the league in three-point percentage (44.1) and was top five in points (478), free throw percentage (79%), field goal percentage (49%) and was sixth in assists with 79.
The Rams will travel to Amherst, Mass. later this week as they compete in NCAA Div. III Tournament for the first time in program history. They will take on the Mammoths of Amherst College at 7pm on Friday.