Women's Hoops Captures Wesleyan Tournament Title

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Bridgewater St. got 21 points, four assists and three rebounds from tournament MVP freshman Jenna Williamson as the Bears remained undefeated on the year (6-0) with a 77-65 victory over previously unbeaten Wesleyan (4-1) in the title game of the Courtyard by Marriott Tournament here this afternoon.  In the consolation game, Vassar took a large early lead and coasted to a win over Keystone, 84-64.

Bridgewater used a 13-5 run between the 12:55 mark of the opening half and the 9:26 point on the clock to turn a tight 11-10 lead into a 24-15 advantage and Wesleyan was kept at arm's length the rest of the game.  Williamson had five points during the run while sophomore Elisha Homich (12 points in the game) hit a pair of three-pointer to help trigger the burst.  A 12-0 run to end the half gave Bridgewater a 44-24 lead at halftime.  Freshman Megan Boutilette (14 points in the game) had a pair of baskets and both Williamson and senior Corey Cuddihy hit a trey, accounting for 10 of the 12 points.

Wesleyan cut the lead to 10 on several occasions in the second half but could never get any momentum to make a serious comeback threat.  The Cardinals made it 48-38 with less than 15 minutes to play but the Bears scored six in a row to make it 54-38.  At the 5:37 mark, Bridgewater found its lead back to 10 again at 63-53, but again the lead reached 16 before the game ended.  

Named to the all-tournament team for Bridgewater was junior Shelly DePina as she led the Bears on the boards with seven rebounds and added four steals and two blocks despite scoring just three points in the championship game.  She had a team-best 16 points and eight rebounds in Bridgewater's 72-64 victory over Vassar in the first round.

Wesleyan had two players on the all-tournament team,  They were senior Erin Gold, who scored 12 points today and 27 for the tournament, along with six assists, two steals and four rebounds in the title game, and junior Eileen Gaffney, with a game-high 25 points vs. Bridgewater on 10-of-15 shooting.   

In the consolation matchup, Vassar raced out to a 29-6 lead before the game was 10 minutes old and never looked back.  Keystone, which got 25 points from senior Ellen Fallon, who was named all-tournament, did get as close as 13 (36-23) with 3:30 left before halftime, but Vassar extended its margin to 45-27 at intermission.  The gap was never under 14 in the second period and peaked at 25 (82-57) with just over three minutes remaining.  

Also named all-tournament was Vassar's freshman Cyndi Matsuoka, who led all scorers with 28 points and had a double-double by adding 10 assists.  In total, Vassar collected 26 assists on 32 baskets.  Freshman Hannah Sentfleber also had a conventional double-double for the Brewers with 23 points and 11 rebounds.