By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team has opened the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule with consecutive victories.

After losing nine straight non-conference games following an opening-night win back on Nov. 12, the Bears have their first winning streak of the 2025-26 season.

They held off Salem State University, 59-51, at the Tinsley Center on Saturday afternoon in the first home game since Dec. 12.

Freshman center Emilie von der Linden (Sanbornville, N.H.) had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.

Senior Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) was also in double figures with 11 points and added nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Bears showed improvement during their post-Christmas trip to Las Vegas, Nev., losing by two points in overtime to Whittier and six points to Redlands.

Then, last Saturday, BSU stayed with third-ranked Smith College before losing by 10 points.

That progress was followed by a road win in the MASCAC opener against Fitchburg State University and a victory over Salem State despite 28 turnovers.

Including the postseason, the Bears have won 13 straight games against conference opponents, last losing the 2024-25 opener to Salem State at home.

"One hundred percent, those were our three best games," said coach Bridgett Casey of the final games heading into the MASCAC schedule. "Even though the result wasn't a 'W' against Smith, we got better as a team and there were a lot of good things that we kind of ran with after that.''

The Bears (3-9, 2-0 MASCAC) had their problems down the stretch against the Vikings (5-8, 1-1) after building an 18-point lead in the third quarter.

BSU was in front, 57-42, with 3:19 left in the fourth quarter after a jumper by Burchhardt.

But the Vikings scored the next nine points to get as close as 57-51 with 1:05 left after a 3-pointer by senior Maria Orfanos (Lynn, Mass.).

Salem State had two chances to get even closer but missed two free throws and a layup before freshman Savannah Azoff (Sandwich, Mass.) ended the threat with two foul shots with four seconds to play.

BSU had seven turnovers in the final five-plus minutes. The Vikings scored 21 points off the 28 total turnovers in the game.

"We haven't been in that situation a lot," said Casey of having a double-digit lead late in games. "It's about learning to put teams away. That's a struggle, but it's something we'll work on because I feel like we'll be in that position quite a bit if we play the way we're capable of, if we bring it defensively.

"I thought there were times when our offense looked really, really good and connected on all cylinders and made that extra pass and were making the right reads.

"But at the end of the day, to have 28 turnovers in a single-digit game, you just can't have that."

BSU was up, 16-14 after one quarter and held a 29-23 lead at halftime with von der Linden having 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Bears opened the third quarter on a 13-1 run over 3:35 for a 42-24 lead with von der Linden scoring six of the points and Burchhardt adding four.

A 3-pointer by Burchhardt with 10 seconds to go allowed BSU to open a 48-32 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The advantage remained in double figures for most of the fourth quarter until the Bears' struggles with turnovers caused problems.

They were outscored, 19-11, in the final 10 minutes as Salem State made a bid for a comeback.

"We've got to take care of it," said Casey of the turnovers. "We're still young in so many levels, but we have some experience and I'm expecting a bit more from them in situations like that. We have to be disciplined and poised.

"But any time you can get a confidence win, it's great. Hopefully we can learn how to put teams away."

von der Linden had her third career double-double and has grabbed at least 10 rebounds five times in her first season.

"I think she's finding herself," said Casey. "She was just solid. She's kind of coming into her own."

Other contributors for BSU were sophomore Reese Bartlett (Norwood, Mass.) with eight points, three rebounds and two assists off the bench and Azoff with seven points and five rebounds.

The Bears shot 38 percent and were 27 percent on 3-pointers while the Vikings made 35 percent of their shots, 27 percent from 3-point range.

BSU outrebounded Salem State, 49-34, and the Vikings had 20 steals.

Salem State was led by senior Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.) with 14 points, nine rebounds and six steals and Orfanos, who had 14 points and five steals.

The Bears will be on the road Wednesday for a 5 p.m. game against MASCAC newcomer Anna Maria.

Salem State is home Wednesday at 5 p.m. to play Framingham State.