Women's Basketball Wraps Up Regular Season Play with 78-46 Win over MCLA

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team wrapped up regular season play with a convincing 78-46 win over Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) foe MCLA on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears, who clinched the MASCAC regular season title a week ago, improve to 17-7 overall and 10-2 in conference play.  MCLA slips to 13-12 on the year and 6-6 in the MASCAC.  Bridgewater, which has a first round bye in next week's MASCAC Tournament, will host the semifinals and championship game on Friday and Saturday.  The Trailblazers are the number three seed and will entertain sixth-seeded Fitchburg state in a first round game on Tuesday night in North Adams.

Senior forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, Mass.) paced the Bears with 17 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals.  DePina, who connected on 5 of 7 field goal attempts and was 6-for-8 from the free throw line, moved past Lynn Malkasian (1,086 points) into sixth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list as she now has 1,097 points in her career.

Sophomore guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, Mass.) added ten points, six boards and five assists for BSU, while freshman forward Alana Watkins (Wareham, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points off the bench.  Watkins shot 3-for-4 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. Junior forward Michaela Cosby (Walpole, Mass.) filled up the stat sheet for the Bears as she notched eight points, six caroms, five assists, two blocks and five steals.  Senior guard Ciara Shaughnessy (Lowell, Mass.) drained three trifectas off the bench on her way to nine points.

Bridgewater opened up a commanding 27-point lead (30-3) and limited the visiting Trailblazers to just three points over the first 11 minutes of the contest.  The Bears would hold MCLA to only nine points in the opening stanza and would take a 42-9 advantage into the intermission.  BSU outscored MCLA 16-4 in the paint over the first 20 minutes and converted 14 Trailblazer turnovers into 20 points.  MCLA connected on just 3 of 26 (11.5%) field goals in the first half.

The Bears lead ballooned to as much as 46 points in the second half before settling for the 78-46 victory.  MCLA shot the ball much better in the second half (43.8%) but the closest they would get was the final margin of 32 points.

The Trailblazers, who were playing without leading scorer and rebounder Jen Wehner (Cooperstown, N.Y.), were led by senior guard Lucy Tremblay (East Greenbush, N.Y.) who tallied 12 points, three rebounds and three steals.  Freshman forward Danielle Beauchamp (Cohoes, N.Y.) added nine points and four boards off the bench. 

Bridgewater shot 49% (27-55) for the game and knocked down 7 of 14 three-point field goals.  The Bears also converted 17 of 22 (77%) free throw attempts and forced 20 turnovers thanks in large part to 17 steals.