Dziadyk, Piché Lead Women's Basketball to 72-70 Win over Johnson & Wales

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Sophomore guard Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) scored 19 points and freshman guard Kylee Piché (Bridgewater, Mass.) added 17 to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a 72-70 victory over Johnson & Wales University on Wednesday evening at the Wildcat Center.

The visiting Bears improve to 4-9 on the season with their second straight win, while the host Wildcats fall to 8-6.

Dziadyk notched 13 of her team-best 19 points in the third quarter. She connected on 8 of 10 field goals for the game and added five rebounds and four assists. Piché, who scored six of her 17 points in the final 2 ½ minutes of the fourth quarter, went 8 for 13 from the floor and notched three rebounds and a pair of assists.

Senior guard Nicole Bostick (East Taunton, Mass.) added eight points, three steals and a team-high eight rebounds for the Bears.

Senior center Maddy Moro (Catawissa, Pa.) paced Johnson & Wales with a game-high 21 points, 11 rebounds (four offensive) and four steals. The double-double marked the of the season for Moro.

Senior guard Britney Gallagher (New City, N.Y.) checked in with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting for the Wildcats. Gallagher also finished with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Classmate Tiondra Hands (Boynton Beach, Fla.) added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Johnson & Wales led 18-16 after a tightly-contested first quarter in which neither led by more than three points. Moro scored ten of the Wildcats' 18 points in the opening period.

JWU used a 13-2 run over a 5 ½ minute stretch of the second quarter to open up an 11-point advantage, 33-22, with two minutes remaining until halftime. Five different players scored for the hosts during the spurt. The Wildcats would ultimately take a 35-27 lead into the break.

Moro led all players with 14 first-half points, while junior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) tallied six points over the first 20 minutes for the Bears.

Bridgewater State scored nine of the first ten points of the third quarter to knot the score at 36-36. Dziadyk started the run with a three-pointer and capped it off with a driving layup. The Wildcats answered with an 8-2 spurt, including a three-pointer from Gallagher, to go back up by six, 44-38, with just under five minutes remaining in the period. The Bears responded with an 18-4 run to pull ahead, 56-48, with two minutes left to play in the quarter. Piché, Dziadyk and sophomore guard Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) tallied six points apiece during the run. The Bears, who outscored the Wildcats 33-18 in the third, would take a 60-53 lead into the final period.

Piché dropped in a layup and added 1 of 2 free throws to give the Bears their biggest lead of the game at ten points, 63-53, early in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater, however, managed to score just two points over the next five-plus minutes. The Wildcats took advantage of the Bears' scoring drought and pulled to within one, 65-64, following a Lee layup with 2:42 showing on the scoreboard. Lee had a chance to tie the game, but missed the and-1 free throw. That would set the stage for an exciting finish.

A reverse layup by Piché put the Bears back up three, but Moro answered with a layup. Moro, who also got fouled on bucket, missed the free throw as the BSU lead was again down to one. Piché and Gallagher exchanged layups before the Wildcats capitalized on a BSU turnover and took a 70-69 lead following a Hands' jumper with just 37 seconds left to play. Out of a timeout, Piché converted a layup off a perfectly executed inbounds pass from Olivia Dziadyk to reclaim the lead for the Bears, 71-69, with 31.8 seconds showing on the scoreboard. An offensive foul on an illegal screen with just five seconds remaining cost the Wildcats a chance to tie game. One of two free throws by Bostick and a Piché steal sealed the 72-70 win for the Bears.

Bridgewater shot 45% (29-64) from the floor and went 4-for-16 (25%) from behind the arc and 10-for-19 (53%) at the free throw line. The Bears finished with a 48-28 edge in points in the paint, and the BSU bench outscored the Wildcats' reserves 20-6.

Johnson & Wales connected on 40% (26-65) of its field goal attempts and knocked down 4 of 15 (27%) three-pointers. The Wildcats struggled mightily at the charity stripe as the hosts went 14-for-30 (47%) at the line.

Both teams open conference play on Saturday afternoon at one. The Bears entertain Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) rival MCLA, while the Wildcats host Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Lasell College.