Women's Basketball Captures Hockenbury Classic Title Behind MVP Boutilette

NORTHFIELD, Vermont – Senior forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, Mass.) earned tournament MVP honors to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to an 86-58 victory over host Norwich University in the championship game of the Ed Hockenbury Classic on Saturday afternoon.

Boutilette posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Bears who improve to 5-2 on the season.  She became just the third player in BSU women's basketball history to record 700 rebounds as she now has 707 in her outstanding career.  Boutilette trails only Lynn Malksasian (780) and Laurie Berryman (709) among the Bears' all-time leaders.

BSU senior guard Colleen Hanscom (Melrose, Mass.) was also selected to the All-Tournament Team as she scored a team-high 21 points and added six rebounds and two assists.

An 18-3 late first half run by the Bears turned a close game (30-25) into a one-sided affair.  Boutilette, Hanscom and junior guard Rachel Kusz (Worcester, Mass.) each scored five points during the run.  Norwich would get no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.  Bridgewater led by as many as 36 points (78-42) in the second half before settling for the 86-58 victory.

Senior guard Elisha Homich (Ludlow, Mass.) added 11 points, five assists and two steals for the Bears, while freshman guard Jennie Lindland (Edgartown, Mass.) chipped in with ten points on 5 of 6 shooting off the bench.

Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) totaled a game-high 29 points on the afternoon to lead the way for Norwich as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Senior Erin Clark (Newbury, Vt.) led the Cadets on the boards with 10 rebounds.

Notes: With her 16 points, Boutilette increased her career scoring total to 909.