By Jim Fenton

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team turned in a strong performance against one of the nation's top teams Saturday afternoon.

Facing unbeaten Smith College, which reached the NCAA Division III championship game the past two seasons, the Bears held a nine-point first-half lead and trailed by only three points with less than seven minutes remaining.

But Smith held off BSU and improved to 10-0 with a 74-64 victory at Ainsworth Gymnasium.

It was the closest margin of victory this season for Smith, which entered the game with nine wins by an average of 31.9 points.

Smith is ranked No. 3 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll and No. 4 in the D3hoops.com ratings.

BSU (1-9) dropped its ninth straight game since winning on opening night against the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

The Bears had arrived home on Wednesday morning from Las Vegas, Nev., where they lost twice in the D3hoops.com Classic.

Against Smith, BSU was in front, 20-13, after one quarter and the game was even at 32 at the midway point.

Smith used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to build a 51-45 lead going into the final 10 minutes, and the Bears got as close as 58-55 with 6:39 to go.

Freshman Savannah Azoff (Sandwich, Mass.) led BSU with a career-high 17 points, making 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range, to go with six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Sophomore Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) added 12 points, making 5 of 6 shots with two 3-pointers, and had five rebounds.

Senior Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) had 12 points with two 3-pointers and junior Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 11 points with two 3-pointers and added three steals and three assists.

Smith, which lost to New York University in the championship game the past two seasons, had four players score in double figures.

Junior Virginia Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn.) led the way with 15 points, making three 3-pointers, and grabbed nine rebounds.

Senior Selam Maher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) scored 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers, and junior Uta Nakamura (Manhattan, N.Y.) scored 11 points to go with five assists and four steals.

Also scoring 11 points, making three 3-pointers, was junior Hannah Martin (North Andover, Mass.) while senior Ella Sylvester (Everett, Wash.) had 12 rebounds (ten offensive).

BSU shot 45 percent from the floor while Smith made 40 percent of its shots.

Smith had 45 rebounds, including 23 on the offensive glass, while the Bears grabbed 20 total rebounds.

There were four ties and three lead changes, and BSU was in front for 17:30. Each team had 19 turnovers but Smith held an 18-7 advantage in fast-break points.

The Bears jumped to a 10-2 lead 4:07 into the game with Smith missing its first nine shots.

BSU put together a 7-0 run over a span of 2:09 with Burchhardt scoring five points and Azoff adding a 3-pointer.

Smith's first basket came with 5:30 to go in the quarter on a jumper by Sylvester to make it 10-4.

BSU's largest lead of the game was 13-4 after another 3-pointer by Azoff and after missing five of six shots, the Bears took a 20-13 lead at the end of the quarter on a 3-pointer by O'Sullivan-Van Etten.

BSU went 4-for-8 on 3-pointers and 7-for-14 overall in the opening  quarter.

The Bears were in front, 28-20, with 6:17 left in the half after a Bradbury 3-pointer, but Smith scored 10 straight points for a 30-28 edge. A layup by Nakamura with 1:33 remaining had given the hosts their first lead of the day at 29-28.

Two layups by senior Mairead Gallagher (Bridgewater, Mass.) in 18 seconds put BSU on top, 32-30, before Nakamura tied it with six seconds to play.

The Bears' final lead of the game was 34-32 with 9:06 left in the third quarter on a layup by Burchhardt.

That is when Smith went on its 13-0 run over 2:06 for a 45-34 lead with seven minutes to go.

Smith made 5 of 6 shots, hitting three 3-pointers, with Maher scoring six points and Martin five.

The Bears went 2:33 without a point before Bradbury made a foul shot, and a 3-pointer by Bradbury was their next basket with 6:10 to go, making it 45-38.

BSU was as close as 47-43 on a jumper by O'Sullivan-Van Etten, but Smith opened a 51-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Azoff made a 3-pointer just 29 seconds into the last 10 minutes to make it 51-48 and Burchhardt connected on a 3-pointer with 6:39 to go to get BSU within 58-55.

Smith answered with a 7-0 run in less than two minutes for a 65-55 lead, Johnson scoring five of the points.

The closest BSU would get was 65-57 on a Gallagher layup with 4:08 to play. After Smith led by 13 on a Martin 3-pointer, Azoff hit a 3-pointer and O'Sullivan-Van Etten added a jumper to cut the deficit.

Smith held a decided 45-20 rebounding advantage for the game including a 23-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Pioneers, however, finished with just 15 second chance points while the Bears notched 14 second chance points.

Turnovers were even at 19 apiece.

The Pioneers were held under 40% shooting (39.7%) and went 9-for-32 (28.1%) from behing the arc and 15-for-21 (71.4%) at the free throw line.

Bridgewater shot 44.6% (25-56) on the afternoon including 11-for-30 (36.7%) from three-point range. Bradbury was the only Bear to attempt a free throw as she went 3-for-4 at the line.

The BSU starting five accounted for 56 of the Bears' 64 points (87.5%).

BSU has just one non-conference game remaining as it hosts Connecticut College on Feb. 9.

The Bears begin the defense of their Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference title Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Fitchburg State University.

Smith plays Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Hamilton College.