Women's Basketball Falls to Middlebury, 72-59, at NYU Holiday Classic

MANHATTAN, N.Y. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team dropped a 72-59 decision to Middlebury College at the NYU Holiday Classic on Saturday evening.

The Bears slip to 2-7 overall with their fifth straight setback, while the Panthers improve to 5-2.

Catherine Harrison paced Middlebury with 23 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Sarah Kaufman added 19 points, five boards, four assists and a pair of steals for the Panthers, while Sabrina Weeks checked in with ten points and six rebounds.

Jennie Lindland led way for Bridgewater State with 18 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and four steals. Lindland connected on 9 of 12 field goal attempts. Sara DaSilva added 11 points as she was the only other Bear in double figures.

The Bears trailed 23-22 midway through the second quarter, but used a 12-2 run to open up a nine-point advantage (34-25). Stephanie DeSantis started the run with a three-pointer, while Jennifer Whyte tallied five points during the spurt and Lindland scored four. Bridgewater would ultimately take a 36-27 lead into the intermission.

Lindland paced the Bears' with eight first half points, while DaSilva, Christine Curran and Janet Maher notched six points apiece.

Kaufman led the Panthers with ten points over the first twenty minutes while Harrison added eight.

Middlebury opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run to make it a two-point game, 38-36, with 6:42 remaining in the period. Harrison scored six of the Panthers' nine points during the run.

DaSilva answered with a three-pointer out of a timeout to push the BSU lead up to five, 41-36. The Bears would stay out in front the remainder of the period and headed into the fourth quarter holding a 46-44 advantage.

A pair of Harrison lay-ups to open the final period put the Panthers back on top, 48-46. Vanesa Conceicao made 1 of 2 free throws for the Bears' first point of the fourth quarter at the 7:36 mark to cut the deficit to 48-47.

A Weeks' three-pointer extended the Middlebury advantage to 51-47. The Bears, however, answered with eight straight points, including six from Lindland, to reclaim the lead, 55-51, as the clock ticked under five minutes.

Bridgewater, however, would score just four points the rest of the way. The Bears went 2-for-10 from the floor and 0-for-5 from behind the arc while turning the ball over five times in the final five minutes.

Another Weeks' trifecta followed by a Harrison layup  put the Panthers back out in front to stay, 56-55, with 3:57 left to play. Middlebury would also score the next seven points, highlighted by a Kaufman three-pointer, as the 12-0 run gave the Panthers a 63-55 lead with under two minutes remaining.

Middlebury, which held a 28-13 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter, went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the final 45 seconds to close out the 72-59 victory.

The Panthers shot 48% (29-61) from the floor for the game, including 17-for-30 (57%) in the second half, while also connecting on 5 of 10 (50%) three-point field goal attempts and 9 of 11 (82%) free throw tries.

Middlebury held a 46-28 advantage in points in the paint as well as an 18-8 edge in points off turnovers.

Bridgewater State converted 17 of 35 (49%) field goals in the first half, but connected on just 9 of 31 (29%) attempts over the final 20 minutes. The Bears also went just 3-for-24 (13%) from three-point range.

The NYU Holiday Classic continues on Sunday evening. The Bears take on Kean University at seven o'clock, while the Panthers face-off against host NYU at five.