Women's Basketball Rallies Past Salem State, 85-70

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Nicole Bostick (East Taunton, Mass.) scored 20 points and sophomore guard Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) added 16 off the bench to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to an 85-70 come-from-behind victory over Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) rival Salem State University on Wednesday evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 9-12 on the season and 5-3 in the MASCAC, while the Vikings fall to 5-15 overall and 2-6 in conference play. Bridgewater has won six of the last seven meetings of the two teams and 12 of the last 14.

Bostick knocked down four three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. She also added four rebounds three assists and a steal. Dziadyk went 6-for-8 from the floor, 2-for-3 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 at the line.

Sophomore guard Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Bears, while junior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) tallied 11 points (all in the second half) on 5 of 7 shooting to go along with five rebounds and a blocked shot. Freshman guard Kylee Piché (Bridgewater, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with seven points, three assists, three steals and a team-best six rebounds (four offensive).

Senior guard Courtney Paschal (Waltham, Mass.) paced Salem State with a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds (three offensive). Paschal went 8-for-12 from the floor and 7-for-9 at the charity stripe. Freshman forward Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.) checked in with 20 points, six boards (four offensive), two steals and two blocked shots for the Vikings, while freshman guard Hannah Cravedi (Templeton, Mass.) contributed 12 points, five rebounds and five steals.

The Vikings jumped out to an early 8-0 lead as they held the Bears scoreless for over four minutes to start the game. The Vikings got up by as many as ten points in the period and took a 16-6 lead into the second quarter. Bostick knocked down a three-pointer to open the second period, but the Vikings responded with a 9-3 run to open up a 15-point lead (27-12). Salem would ultimately take a 34-26 advantage into the break.

Zaiter tallied ten points in the first half to lead all scorers, while Bostick paced the Bears with nine. The Vikings shot 57% (11-23) from the floor over the first 20 minutes and went a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. The Bears connected on 29% (10-34) of their field goal attempts, went 6-for-16 (37%) from behind the arc and did not attempt a free throw. The two teams combined for 27 turnovers in the first half.

A jumper by Cravedi with 8:14 remaining in the third quarter have the visitors a 12-point advantage at 40-28. The Bears then outscored the Vikings 21-3 over the next 3 ½ minutes to jump in front, 49-43. Bostick tallied nine points during the run. The rest of the period was evenly played with Bridgewater holding a 61-55 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Two free throws by Paschal and a Zaiter jumper to open the final period pulled the Vikings to within two, 61-59.  The Bears, however, answered with a 9-0 run to open up an 11-point lead, 70-59, with just under six minutes left to play. Olivia Dziadyk started the run with a layup and capped it off with a traditional three-point play. Back-to-back buckets by Paschal closed the gap to seven (70-63) with 4:46 showing on the scoreboard, but that would be as close as the Vikings would get. A three-pointer by Piché followed by a tradition three-point play by Fitzgerald got the lead back up to double digits and the Bears would pull away for the 85-70 victory.

Bridgewater shot 51% (20-39) in the second half and 41% (30-73) for the game. The Bears, who attempted 24 more shots than the Vikings, finished 12-for-33 (36%) from three-point range and 13-for-15 (87%) at the free throw line. Bridgewater also held a 41-32 rebounding advantage including a 22-12 edge on the offensive glass.

Salem connected on 45% (22-49) of its field goal attempts and went 24-for-30 (80%) at the line.

The Bears held the advantage in points off turnovers (28-19), points in the paint (32-26) and second chance points (19-12). The BSU bench also outscored the Salem reserves, 33-6.

The Bears are off until next Wednesday evening when they travel to Westfield State University for a 5:30 MASCAC game with the Owls. The Vikings entertain conference rival MCLA on Saturday at noon.