By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- For the first time since the week of Thanksgiving, the Bridgewater State University is no longer below the .500 mark.

The Bears coasted to their eighth consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon, improving to 9-9 overall and 8-0 atop the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

BSU scored its largest margin of victory this season, leading from start to finish while sweeping the season series from Fitchburg State University, 93-38, at the Tinsley Center.

The last time the Bears were not under .500 was when they were 1-1 in the opening days of the season.

BSU had a nine-game losing streak while dealing with a difficult non-conference schedule and has put together an eight-game winning streak since beginning play in the MASCAC.

"It's nice to not have a losing record, but I really didn't look at that," said Bears coach Bridgett Casey. "At 1-9, with the quality of teams that we played in that stretch, I knew we were only getting better and better.

"This is why we do it, so that we can be set for the MASCAC and here we are at 8-0.

"We keep (the players) grounded because every team we play, we're going to get their best game. Everyone wants to be the first team to get the goose egg off our record and give us the first loss."

BSU has won 19 straight games against MASCAC opponents, including two in the tournament last winter.

Against Fitchburg State (3-16, 1-7 MASCAC), the Bears raced to an 11-0 lead and were never threatened, surrendering a season-low point total.

Freshman Emilie von der Linden (Sanbornville, N.H.) had a career-best 26 points on 10-for-12 shooting, reaching double figures for the seventh straight game.

von der Linden grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists and two blocked shots in 26 minutes.

Also in double figures was sophomore Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting. She added five rebounds and four assists.

Senior Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) added nine points, making 4 of 5 shots, and added five rebounds and two assists while junior Emily Quinn (Lancaster, Mass.)
scored nine points on 4-for-5 shooting with two steals.

Twelve players scored for BSU, which shot 58 percent from the field and had 25 points off 24 Falcons' turnovers.

The Bears used an impressive passing game to keep the ball moving and get teammates open shots throughout. BSU outscored FItchburg State, 52-12, in the paint.

"Today, one of our goals was to beat our season high of 22 assists and we had 29," said Casey. "It's little things like that we want to keep working on.

"Obivously, working the ball more in and out and getting Emilie those nice easy looks rather than relying on the outside shot is key.

"I don't need to go in at halftime being 2-for-22 (on 3-pointers) and only have a six-point lead. Let's work it around. I thought we did a very good job at working the zone and the high-low. We had some great crisp passing, interior passing.''

O'Sullivan-Van Etten had five early points when BSU took the 11-0 lead just 5:05 into the game as the Falcons missed their first seven shots.

After being up, 17-7, the Bears held a 21-10 first-quarter advantage.

Fitchburg State was within 21-14 with 8:19 left in the half on a layup by freshman Kyelah Smith (Bloomfield, Conn.) and it was 31-20 with 5:36 remaining.

But BSU finished the half on an 18-4 run over the final 5:13 with von der Linden scoring eight and Quinn adding seven.

That gave the Bears a 49-24 lead at the break, and the Falcons would get no closer the rest of the way.

BSU limited Fitchburg to 14 second-half points, including five in the second half, and rolled to another MASCAC win.

"We want to keep making progress," said Casey. "We're trying to get better. Now the next one we can work on something else and by the end of the seaon we can put it all together with a 40-minute game."

The Falcons were led by senior Kaelynn Tanner (Lowell, Mass.) with nine points and three rebounds while Smith added eight points and three assists.

The game was a Morgan's Message® Awareness event. Morgan's Message® is a 501(c)(3) that strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics.

After playing four of the past five games at home, the Bears will be at Salem State on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. game.

Fitchburg State travels to Framingham State for a 5:30 p.m. game on Wednesday.