By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's tennis season came to a disappointing end with a narrow loss in the semifinal round of the Little East Conference tournament.

The second-seeded Bears were edged by the third-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston, 4-3, at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts Thursday in a match that went down to the wire.

The loss ended a seven-match winning streak for the Bears, who finished 9-5 and went 7-1 during the Little East regular season.

The Beacons (11-4) will bid for a fourth straight conference tournament championship on Saturday at top-seeded Rhode Island College (14-0).

BSU trailed, 3-1, before winning two singles matches, sending it down to No. 6 singles.

UMass Boston senior Maya Rubenstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) edged junior Samantha Bettencourt (Tiverton, R.I.), 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, to send the Beacons back to the final round.

UMass Boston gained the doubles point by winning at No. 2 and No. 3.

Sophomore Tatiana Malone (South Dennis, Mass.) and freshman Althea Bradley (North Reading, Mass.) won over BSU sophomore Emma Gibney (New Bedford, Mass.) and sophomore Sarah Pothier (Rochester, Mass.), 6-2, at No. 2 while Rubenstein and freshman Karina Khalsa (South Yarmouth, Mass.) defeated Bettencourt and junior Fiona Clancy (Middleboro, Mass.), 6-2, at No. 3.

The No. 1 doubles match went unfinished after the Beacons won the point.

Junior Sandra Watson (West Palm Beach, Fla.) gave UMass Boston a point at No. 2 singles when BSU sophomore Aislyn Kelliher (Plymouth, Mass.) was forced to retire due to injury with the first set even, 3-3.

Pothier pulled BSU within 2-1, with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Bradley at No. 4 singles.

The Beacons took a 3-1 lead when junior Zainab Patel (Ahmedabad, India) won at No. 1 singles over Gibney, 6-0, 6-2.

The Bears rallied for wins at No. 3 and No. 5 singles to even the match.

Sophomore Morgan Smith (Taunton, Mass.) defeated Malone at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 while sophomore Ava Alves (Taunton, Mass.) was a 6-2, 6-3 winner at No. 5 singles over senior Shreya Saravana Rakshana (Bengaluru, India).

Alves, who missed her first season at BSU due to an injury, finished 12-1 and defeated all nine of her conference opponents.

BSU suffered its first loss since Sept. 20 when it was defeated by RIC, 5-2.

The seven-match winning streak included a 4-3 win over UMass Boston on Sept. 30, ending a 26-match regular-season conference winning streak for the Beacons dating back to October 2021.

The Bears and Beacons met for only the second time in the postseason, BSU winning a quarterfinal-round match in 2017.

BSU was bidding for its first trip to the conference final since losing to RIC, 5-1, in 2021.

The Bears graduate just one senior and return all seven starters.

RIC is making its 10th straight appearance in the championship match after eliminating UMass Dartmouth, 4-0, on Thursday.

UMass Boston defeated RIC, 5-1, 5-0 and 5-2 in the last three championship matches.