Women's Basketball Downs Ramapo, 67-60

GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. -- Sophomore forward Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) tallied a season-high 20 points to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a 67-60 victory over Ramapo College in the consolation game of the Gwynedd Mercy Holiday Tournament.

The Bears improve to 6-5 with the win, while the Roadrunners slip to 4-7.

Melton, who earned all-tournament honors, connected on 6 of 11 field goal attempts and went 8-for-9 at the free throw line. She also tallied three rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal.

Junior guard Vanesa Conceicao (New Bedford, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with 15 points, five rebounds, six assists, a block and two steals, while senior guard Rachel Kusz (Worcester, Mass.) notched 12 points.  Senior forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, Mass.) coralled a game-best 11 rebounds with seven coming on the offensive glass to go along with four blocked shots and a pair of steals.

Sophomore forward Kellie Lane (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) paced the Roadrunners with 13 points and four offensive boards, while senior guard Kerrie Kosakowski (Bayonne, N.J.) added 12 points, five rebounds and pair of assists, and sophomore guard Doris Ilic (Guttenberg, N.J.) chipped in with 11 points and four caroms.

The Bears used a 14-0 run late in the first half to open up a 17-point (37-20) advantage. Melton scored six points during the spurt while Kusz added five.  Bridgewater would take a 39-25 lead into the intermission.

A Kusz layup at the 14:24 mark of the second half gave the Bears their biggest lead of the game at 49-29.

Down by twenty, Ramapo used runs of 9-0 and 12-1 to crawl back into the game. 

A layup by Kosakowski capped off the late 12-1 surge and pulled the Roadrunners to within just three points, 63-60, with 46 seconds remaining.

Conceicao converted a pair of free throws at the other end of the floor to increase the BSU advantage to 65-60 with twenty seconds left to play.  Following a Ramapo miss, Melton iced the game with two more free throws as the Bears pulled out the win.

Bridgewater shot 36% (22-62) from the floor, 31% (4-13) from three-point range and 70% (19-27) at the free throw line. The Bears forced 23 turnovers while commiting just ten, and held an 18-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Ramapo connected on 37% (19-52) of its field goal attempts and finished an impressive 21-for-24 (88%) at the charity stripe. The Roadrunners outrebounded the Bears by a margin of 44-32 which resulted in a 14-8 edge in second chance points.

In upcoming action, the Bears open MASCAC play on Thursday evening at 5:30 when they travel to MCLA to take on the Trailblazers.

Notes: Boutilette recorded the 100th blocked shot of her career and moved into third place on the Bears' all-time steals list with 269....Boutilette also increased her career scoring output to 987 points and career rebounding total to 757. BSU Hall of Famer Lynn Malkasian (1985-89) holds the Bears' all-time rebounding mark with 780.