Women's Basketball Falls to Framingham State in Overtime, 75-68

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Sophomore forward Katty Haidul (Gilford, N.H.) posted a double-double with 19 points and 24 rebounds and knocked down a clutch game-tying three-pointer in the waning seconds of regulation to lead the visiting Framingham State University women's basketball team to a 75-68 overtime victory over Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) rival Bridgewater State University on Monday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

The Rams improve to 10-3 on the season and 2-0 in the MASCAC, while the Bears fall to 8-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Framingham has won 14 of the last 15 meetings of the two teams.

Haidul connected on 8 of 17 field goal attempts and seven of her career-best 24 boards came off the offensive glass. She added two assists and three steals.

Sophomore forward Flannery O'Connor (Amesbury, Mass.) also recorded a double-double for the Rams as she scored a game-best 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds (three offensive) to go along with four assists, a steal and two blocked shots. Senior guard Krysta Padellaro (Newburyport, Mass.) added 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, four steals and a block for the visitors, while sophomore guard Gwendolyn Carpenter (Ashley Falls, Mass.) checked in with 12 points, four rebounds, six assists and a steal.

Four players scored in double figures for Bridgewater State with freshman guard Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) leading the way with a career-high 17 points on 12 of 14 shooting from the free throw line. Grassi also finished with four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. Senior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) recorded her 14th career double-double with ten points and a season-high 17 rebounds to go along with a season-best five blocked shots, while freshman center Jannise Avelino (Peabody, Mass.) tallied 12 points and five rebounds and junior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) notched ten points, five rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with seven points, ten rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block.

The Bears, who never trailed in the first half, led 20-12 after the first quarter and took full advantage of a pair of bench technical fouls between periods. Grassi converted all four free throws to give the hosts a 24-12 lead before any time ticked off the second quarter clock. Bridgewater got up by as many as 14 points on three occasions in the second quarter and took a 34-25 lead into the break.

Trailing 40-27 in the third quarter, the Rams used a 14-0 run to take a 41-40 lead. Five different players scored during the spurt which was jumpstarted by a Padellaro three-pointer and capped off by a Haidul jumper. The rest of regulation featured five lead changes and four ties with a three-pointer by BSU senior guard Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) breaking a 55-55 deadlock with 1:34 showing on the fourth quarter scoreboard. Following a stop, Avelino dropped in a layup off a nice feed from Grassi to make it a five-point game (60-55). Out of a timeout, Carpenter drained a trifecta to pull the Rams to within two, 60-58. After the two teams exchanged turnovers, Bradbury converted 1 of 2 at the free throw line with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to make it a three-point game (61-58). Haidul then sent the game into overtime as she buried the game-tying three-pointer with 6.1 seconds on the clock. O'Connor setup the clutch shot as she saved the ball from going out of bounds off an initial missed three-point attempt.

Framingham held the edge in play in overtime as the Rams outscored the Bears 12-2 over the first 3:40 of the extra session highlighted by four points from O'Connor and a three-pointer from senior guard Camille Desrochers (Westford, Mass.). A Grassi trifecta pulled the hosts to within seven (73-66), but Haidul answered with a layup off an assist from O'Connor with 50 seconds left to play. A late Bradbury layup accounted for the final score of 75-68.

The two teams combined for 32 turnovers in the game. Framingham shot 33% (28-85) from the floor, 24% (5-21) from three-point range and 56% (14-25) at the free throw line. The Rams held a 64-49 rebounding advantage with a 20-8 edge on the offensive glass. Bridgewater shot 33% (24-72) for the game, 20% (4-20) from behind the arc and 67% (16-24) at the charity stripe. Five of the Bears' missed free throws came in the second half.

The MASCAC schedule continues on Wednesday when the Bears travel to Westfield State University to take on the Owls at 5:30. The Rams are off until Saturday when they head to Salem State University for a noontime conference game with the Vikings.