Women's Basketball Edges Brandeis, 74-73

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team came away with a tough 74-73 victory over host Brandeis University on Thursday evening at Red Auerbach Arena.

The Bears improve to 6-3 on the season, while the Judges fall to 4-4.

Junior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with 15 points on 6 of 13 shooting from the floor and 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Bradbury also led the Bears with nine rebounds. Senior guard Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) sparked the visitors in the fourth quarter, posting seven points, three rebounds and three assists to finish with 12, seven and five, respectively. Senior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) checked in with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in 11 minutes off the bench.

The Bears scored the first 11 points of the game with Bradbury contributing all seven of her first-half points including a run-capping three-pointer. The Judges answered with a 16-4 run, capped off by a Mollie Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine) trifecta, to take a 16-15 lead with 9:47 remaining in the second quarter. Bridgewater State, however, would hold the edge in play for the rest of the period as the Bears took a 32-25 lead into the intermission.

Both teams struggled with their shooting in the first half and the two squads combined for 22 turnovers. The Bears shot 32.5% (13-40) from the floor, while the Judges connected on just 9 of 34 (26.5%) field goal attempts including 2-for-12 (16.7) from behind the arc.

Bradbury opened the second half with a trifecta to put Bridgewater State up by double figures, but senior guard Camila Casanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif.)  answered to keep it close. BSU eventually took their largest lead of the game in the third quarter, going up by 11 on a pair of Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) free throws that made it 43-32 with 4:54 on the clock. Sophomore guard Selenya Gonzalez (Springfield, Mass.) took over for the Judges at that point, sparking a 12-4 run over the next three minutes, scoring seven points and assisting a Macy Arsenault (Berlin, N.H.) trifecta in the spurt. Gonzalez' driving lay-up with 3:08 to go made it 47-44 in favor of BSU. With the lead still three points and 2:45 on the clock, the Bears finished strong with a 7-2 run that gave the visitors a 56-48 lead heading into final period.

Brandeis was still down by ten points with 5:52 to go and by nine with 4:51 on the clock when the Judges rallied. Freshman forward Caitlin Gresko (Howell, N.J.) started things off with a lay-up, then Obar caught fire, hitting back-to-back three-pointers, the latter of which cut the Brandeis deficit to 68-67 with 3:14 remaining. After a Brandeis stop, Gresko got to the line with 2:37 remaining and hit both to give the Judges their first lead since early in the second quarter. Fitzgerald answered with a bucket in the paint to put the lead back in the visitors' hands, but junior guard Tathiana Pierre (Jericho, N.Y.)  dialed long distance from the left corner to make it a 72-70 lead for the Judges with 2:15 to go.

Fitzgerald answered with a tying lay-up on the other end at the 1:27 mark, then blocked a shot on defense that Bridgewater State came away with. With the game knotted at 72-72, Dziadek went back door and scored what proved to be the winning bucket on an assist from Fitzgerald with 1:20 to go. Brandeis got one of the two points back on a trip to the free-throw line. Both teams got stops on their next possessions, allowing Brandeis to set up a final possession with the shot clock off and 25 seconds remaining. The Judges had three good looks at the bucket off inbounds plays, but none them fell through the hoop, allowing the visitors to escape with the win.

For Brandeis, Obar was the team's leading scorer for the first time, as she netted 11 of her career-high 16 points in the fourth quarter. She connected on 6 of 8 from the field in the game, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Casanueva had a fine all-around game with nine points and game-highs of nine rebounds and six assists.

The Bears won the rebounding battle, 55-48, while the Judges owned a 17-15 edge in turnovers, turning it into a 14-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

Bridgewater shot 40% (30-75) for the game including 6-for-15 (40%) from three-point range, The Bears struggled at the free throw line converting just 8 of 17 (47%) foul shots.

The BSU defensive effort limited the Judges to just 35% (26-75) shooting from the floor and 30% (9-30) from behind the arc. Brandeis also went just 12-for-20 (60%) at the charity stripe including a key missed free throw in the closing minutes.

Brandeis will wrap up a three-game homestand next Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. against Eastern Nazarene. Bridgewater State plays host to Wheaton College Saturday at noon.