Women's Basketball Posts 81-75 Win Over Wheaton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 21 points and senior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to an 81-75 victory over visiting Wheaton College on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 7-3 on the season with the win and even the all-time series at 6-6. The Lyons fall to 5-4. The two teams were meeting for the first time since 2011.

Bradbury went 10-for-11 from the free throw line and added six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Fitzgerald connected on 6 of 16 field goals in 16 minutes off the bench and seven of her game-high 11 boards came off the offensive glass. Fitzgerald also contributed two steals and a blocked shot.

Senior guard Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) added ten points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Bears, while junior guard Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.) notched ten points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals in 29 minutes off the bench.

Freshman guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) paced Wheaton with a game-best 26 points on 12 of 26 shooting to go along with six rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block. Freshman forward Greta Minos (West Roxbury, Mass.) checked in with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a game-high four blocked shot for the Lyons, while senior guard Alexis Romer (Delray Beach, Fla.) tallied 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Leading 19-15 after one quarter of play, the Bears used stifling defensive pressure to limit the Lyons to just six points in the second quarter. Bridgewater got up by as many as 17 points in the period including the halftime score of 38-21. The second quarter also featured a 17-0 BSU run as six different players scored during the spurt. The Bears forced 17 Wheaton turnover in the first half and held the Lyons to just 28% (9-32) shooting.

Bradbury tallied ten points over the first 20 minutes as she went 8-for-9 from the free throw line. As a team, the Bears made 17 trips to the charity stripe in the first half and knocked down 14 free throws (82%). Fernandes paced the Lyons with 12 first-half points.

The Bears maintained a double-digit advantage until late in the fourth quarter when Romer capped off a 9-2 Wheaton run with a layup to pull the visitors to within seven, 72-56, with 3:16 left to play. Later on the period, a Romer trifecta made it a five-point game (76-71) with 1:26 showing on the scoreboard. Senior guard Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) answered with a three-pointer for the Bears at the other end of the floor to push the lead back to eight at 79-71. Minos cut the deficit again to five with a deep three-pointer with just 38 seconds remaining. Bradbury, however, sealed the BSU win with a short baseline jumper off a nice feed from Piche with 17 seconds left to play and the Bears would hang on for the 81-75 victory.

Bridgewater shot 38% (31-81) for the game, 30% (3-10) from behind the arc and 76% (16-21) at the free throw line. The Bears held a 55-41 rebounding advantage including a decided 26-14 edge on the offensive board.

The Bears outscored the Lyons 46-26 in the paint, and the BSU bench outscored the Wheaton reserves by a healthy margin of 39-12. Bridgewater State also held the edge in second chance points (21-10) and points off turnovers (27-21).

The Lyons bounced back after a tough first half to shoot 46% (31-68) for the game and 33% (6-18) from three-point range.

The Bears are back in action on Tuesday night when they host Clark University at seven o'clock. The Lyons travel to Roger Williams University next Thursday evening for a 5:30 game with the Hawks.