Women's Basketball Rallies to Defeat UMass Dartmouth, 55-52

Box Score

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- Visiting Bridgewater State outscored the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's women's basketball team, 25-11 during the final nine and a half minutes and came from behind to defeat the Corsairs, 55-52, in a non-conference game at the Tripp Athletic Center Tuesday evening.

The Bears rallied from a 41-30 deficit with 9:37 remaining. Junior forward Ida Henry's (Shrewsbury, MA) layup with 1:31 remaining broke a 49-49 tie and gave BSC the lead for good. Junior forward Kaylin Nelson (New Bedford, MA) drew a foul and hit one of two free throws, but freshman guard Stephanie Houtman (New Bedford, MA) hit a jumper to give the Bears a three-point advantage. Sophomore guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) hit a free throw to make it 54-50, but sophomore forward Tashauna Ashmeade (Hyannis, MA) followed with a jump shot with three seconds left to make it 54-52. BSC junior guard Brittney Chappron (Braintree, MA) was fouled on the inbounds pass and hit a free throw, and the Corsairs were unable to get a shot off before time expired.

UMass Dartmouth led for the entire first half. A three-pointer by senior forward Vicki Andruszkiewicz (Danvers, MA) gave the Corsairs their biggest lead of the half, 22-13 with 3:06 remaining. The Bears cut the lead to five points before UMD got a free throw from Andruszkiewicz and a layup from sophomore guard Kelly Whooley (Bridgewater, MA) to take a 26-18 lead into the locker room at intermission.

Bridgewater State outscored the Corsairs, 12-8 at the outset of the second half to cut the deficit to 34-30, but a pair of jumpers and a free throw by freshman guard Samantha Hodgson (Taunton, MA) and Ashmeade's layup fueled a 7-0 UMass Dartmouth run that made it 41-30 with 9:37 left.

Andruszkiewicz had 14 points and Ashmeade 13 to lead the Corsairs, while Cuddihy scored a game-high 18 points for BSC. Nelson grabbed 18 rebounds and Ashmeade had 14 as UMass Dartmouth out-rebounded the Bears, 55-47. But the Corsairs committed 23 turnovers to BSC's 13.  Both teams struggled mightily at the free throw line.  UMass made only 13 of 25 free throw attempts, while the Bears connected on just 5 of 15.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 2-3 with the defeat, while Bridgewater State improved to 3-1 with the victory. The Corsairs will return to action when they host Simmons Thursday evening. The Bears, winners of three straight games, will visit Babson College on Thursday before returning home for the first time this season to take on Lesley University on Saturday.