Women's Basketball Holds Off Westfield State, 85-79

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team had a rough start and a bumpy finish on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears trailed Westfield State University, 16-2, seven minutes into the first quarter, then were outscored by the Owls, 28-6, during a fourth-quarter run that lasted 5:32.

Despite those two tough stretches, BSU found a way to get past Westfield State, using strong second and third quarters to produce an 85-79 victory at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears finished the first half of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule at 6-0 and moved above .500 overall (10-9) for the first time this season.

BSU defeated Westfield State (10-8, 3-2) despite turning the ball over 33 times, which resulted in 38 points for the visitors. The Bears had a 26-point fourth-quarter lead whittled all the way down to four in the closing minutes before holding off the Owls.

"It was," said coach Bridgett Casey, "a very interesting game."

The Bears' largest lead came with 8:53 to go when Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) hit a jumper to make it 71-45. But BSU managed just four field goals the rest of the way as the Owls made a bid for a stunning comeback.

In last season's MASCAC championship game on the same court, BSU overcame a 23-point second-half deficit to defeat Westfield State for the title.

Grassi, returning from a one-game absence, led the way with 29 points on 9-for-17 shooting to go with eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Grassi, a junior, is now 14th on the all-time scoring list at BSU with 1,066 points after moving past assistant coach Chanelle Melton (1,048 pts.) and Lora O'Connell (1,051 pts.).

Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) added 22 points, hitting 6-for-13 from 3-point range.

Also in double figures was Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) with 17 points (equaled season-high), eight rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Gaucher made four clutch free throws in the final 1:53.

Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) dished out a career-high 11 assists and pulled down five rebounds while Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) grabbed six rebounds.

Westfield State was led by Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) with 13 points and seven rebounds while Maddie Pond (Holyoke, Mass.) and Octaviana Williams (Springfield, Mass.) scored 12 points each. Pond had five steals while Williams added six assists and three steals.

Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) scored 11 points to go with five steals. She has 997 points and is on the verge of becoming the Owls' 19th player to reach 1,000.

BSU turned the ball over 13 times in the fourth quarter as Westfield State's pressure defense enabled the Owls to make their run.

After Grassi's basket for the 71-45 lead, BSU managed just a D'Amours' jumper with 7:42 remaining, a layup by Grassi with 5:54 to go, a layup by Jordan Peebles (Middleboro, Mass.) with 4:20 left during that 28-6 blitz.

The turnovers enabled Westfield State to convert easy chances and get the Owls within striking distance. BSU led, 75-56 with just over five minutes to play but was outscored, 17-2, in just under three minutes.

"Just as in the second quarter we turned things around, they turned things around in the fourth quarter," said Casey. "It's all about runs. What we were doing a good job of -- taking care of the ball, being patient -- we turned the ball over too much. We hit the panic button a little bit, which we talk about a lot.

"Sometimes you get caught up in the moment. We just settled them down. It's not often that I burn all of my timeouts. That was a game I wish I had a few more.  At the end, we made a couple of shots and hit some foul shots."

After Williams pulled Westfield State within 77-73 with 2:22 remaining, Gaucher made two foul shots with 1:53 remaining. Hadla made a foul shots as the Owls got within 79-74 and the Bears were near the end of the shot clock when Grassi hit a 3-pointer for an 82-74 lead.

After a 3-pointer by Pond, Gaucher made two more foul shots with 19 seconds left to finally seal the win.

"It's a great team with great energy," said Casey of Westfield State. "That crazy style of defense they play (with five players substituting in at a time) tripped us up.

"I've had games where we've had 30-plus turnovers and still won. It can be done, but it makes it very frustrating. You've got to do the little things, and we made 17 of 19 at the foul line, which helped."

BSU was behind, 11-0, to start the game before D'Amours made two foul shots with six minutes left in the first quarter. The Bears' first field goal was a Gaucher 3-pointer with 2:15 remaining to cut the deficit to 16-5.

The Bears were within 16-9 after one quarter, then outscored Westfield State, 31-17, in the second quarter and 26-12 in the third quarter to hold leads of 40-33 and 66-45.

BSU's defense shut the Owls down in those quarters. The Bears went on a 32-7 run from late in the first quarter to the second quarter.

"It wasn't anything we didn't talk about or show them on film or walk through in practice and prepare for," said Casey of the pressure defense the Bears saw in the opening minutes.

"We, as a team, know what we can do defensively when we lock in and take care of the ball. Then we chip away and play with confidence. One basket leads to another and that's what happened."

BSU is idle until Saturday when it opens the second half against Salem State University at  1 p.m. at the Tinsley Center.

"Halfway through, 6-0, feeling good, but we know we have work to do,'' said Casey. "I think we can improve. Defensively, we can play with more intensity and take care of the ball more and put teammates in the right spot at the right time to get the right shot."