DaSilva, Aguiar Lead Women's Hoops to 70-51 Win over Framingham State

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Sara DaSilva (Chelmsford, Mass.) scored a game-high 21 points and senior forward Kailyn Aguiar (Acushnet, Mass.) posted a double-double with 18 points and a game-best 16 rebounds to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a 70-51 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Framingham State University on Saturday afternoon in the Bears' annual Play4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness game at the Tinsley Center.

The host Bears improve to 12-11 on the season and 7-3 in the MASCAC with their fifth straight win, while the Rams fall to 14-9 overall and 6-5 in conference play. Bridgewater is alone in third place in the MASCAC standings with two conference games remaining.

DaSilva added two rebounds and a game-high six assists to her 21 points, while Aguiar connected on 7 of 10 field goals and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Aguiar also recorded three assists and three steals, and seven of her 16 boards came off the offensive glass. The double-double marked her team-leading eighth of the season.

Sophomore center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) added 15 points, eight rebounds (five offensive), three assists and two blocked shots in 24 minutes off the bench for the Bears.

Junior guard Emily Velozo (Tewksbury, Mass.) paced Framingham State with a game-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Senior forward Tiphani Harris (Revere, Mass.) added 12 points, eight boards and a pair of steals for the Rams.

Framingham led 27-22 at the break as the Rams' defense limited the Bears to 25% (9-36) shooting in the first half. Velozo scored 13 points over the first two periods to lead all players. Framingham shot 43% (12-28) from the floor in the first half.

A Velozo three-pointer to open the second half gave the visitors an eight-point advantage (30-22). The rest of the game belonged to Bridgewater State as the Bears outscored the Rams 22-8 over the final 9 ½ minutes of the period and 26-13 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the 70-51 victory.

Aguiar scored all 18 of her points in the second half, while DaSilva scored 15 of her 21 and Fitzgerald notched 12 of her 15 points over the final 20 minutes. The Bears shot 68% (19-28) and the BSU defense forced 11 turnovers and held the Rams to 34% (10-29) shooting in the second half.

For the game, Bridgewater held the edge in points in the paint (36-26), points off turnovers (25-11) and second chance points (15-8). The BSU bench also outscored the Framingham reserves, 21-2.

The Bears are back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to Worcester State University for a 7:30 MASCAC game with the Lancers. The Rams are off until next Saturday afternoon at three when they wrap up conference and regular season play at home against MCLA.