Women's Basketball Wins Double Overtime Thriller on Senior Day

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior forward Rhiana Page (Brookline, Mass.) tallied a team-best 17 points and nine rebounds to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a thrilling 73-71 double overtime victory over Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) foe MCLA on Senior Day at the Tinsley Center.

Bridgewater improves to 11-14 on the season and 6-6 in the MASCAC. Seeded fourth in next week's MASCAC Tournament, the Bears will host Salem State University in a first round game on Tuesday evening at 7:30. The win marked the 299th career coaching victory for BSU head coach Bridgett Casey.

MCLA falls to 9-15 overall and 3-9 in conference play. The Trailblazers are seeded sixth in next week's tournament and will travel to Worcester State University at 5:30 for a first round game with the Lancers.

Senior guard Chelsea Saucier (Portland, ME) contributed 12 points and three assists for the Bears, while senior forward Jennie Lindland (Edgartown, Mass.) added ten points and senior guard Stephanie DeSantis (Walpole, Mass.) checked in with seven points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Lindland was playing in her 100th career game.

The Trailblazers were led by senior forward Kayla Hotaling (Ravena, N.Y.) who scored 23 points on 11 of 18 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Junior forward Emily Moulton (North Adams, Mass.) added 18  points and a team-high nine rebounds, while senior guard Courtney McLaughlin (Pittsfield, Mass.) notched 16 points and eight boards.

The Bears held the Trailblazers to only three points in the first quarter and just nine over the first 20 minutes. MCLA went 1-for-18 from the floor in the first half with seven of its nine points coming at the free throw line. Bridgewater held a 23-9 advantage at the break with freshman guard Nicole Bostick (Bridgewater, Mass.) leading all players with six points in the first half. Bostick would finish with nine points on 3 of 5 shooting from three-point range.

Bridgewater got up by as many as 17 points (28-11) in the third quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the period as they led 42-31 at the end of three.

An 11-3 MCLA run to open the fourth quarter pulled the Trailblazers to within three (45-42) with 4:24 left to play. Back-to-back layups by Lindland and Page, however, pushed the BSU lead back to seven, 49-42.

A 6-1 run capped off by a McLaughlin layup with 49.7 seconds remaining cut the deficit to two, 50-48. Following a timeout, Page knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a four-point game, 52-48, with just 32 seconds left to play.

Hotaling answered at the other end of the floor with an off-balance layup and was fouled, but missed the free throw. The Trailblazers fouled immediately and Bridgewater missed both ends of a two-shot foul.

Hotaling then drove to the hoop for a layup with just 6.2 seconds showing on the scoreboard to tie the score at 52-52. The Bears had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds of regulation, but were unable to convert.

In the first overtime, a pair of Page free throws broke a 61-61 tie with just six seconds left to play. Hotaling, however, came up clutch again as she grabbed the ensuing inbounds pass at midcourt, dribbled into the paint and knocked down the game-tying jumper with just 7/10 of a second remaining to send the game to a second overtime.

The second overtime also came down to the final minute. Trailing by three, 69-66, Hotaling converted a layup off an offensive rebound and was fouled with 40 seconds remaining but was unable to complete the three point play.

Page was quickly fouled and converted both ends of a two shot foul with 35.1 seconds left to play to give the Bears a 71-68 lead.

Out of a timeout, McLaughlin missed a potential game-tying three-pointer. Saucier corralled the big defensive board, was fouled immediately and promptly sank both free throws to make it a five-point game (73-68) with just 16 seconds remaining.

Sophomore Courtney Pingelski (Mechanicville, N.Y.) drained a three-pointer with two seconds left to play to cut the deficit to two, 73-71, but the Trailblazers were unable to foul following the ensuing inbounds play and the clock ran out.

Bridgewater went 19-for-24 (79%) from the charity stripe while MCLA connected on 12 of 17 (71%) free throw attempts. The Bears converted 8 of 26 (31%) three-point attempts compared to 3-for-18 (17%) for the Trailblazers. Both teams shot 39% from the floor and were fairly even in the turnover margin (MCLA 19, BSU 18). MCLA held a 45 to 38 advantage on the boards.

Prior to the game, the Bears honored seniors DeSantis, Page and Saucier.