Bradbury, Fitzgerald Lead Women's Basketball to 83-70 Win Over Clark

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and senior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) each recorded a double-double to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to an 83-70 victory over visiting Clark University on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 8-3 on the season, while the Cougars fall to 5-5.

Bradbury scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down a career-high ten rebounds to post her first career double-double. She also added five assists and a pair of steals. Fitzgerald notched her second straight double-double and 13th of her career as she notched 18 points and 12 rebounds (five offensive) to go along with three blocked shots in 16 minutes off the bench. Fitzgerald connected on 7 of 10 field goal attempts.

Senior guard Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) added 13 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists for the Bears, while freshman forward Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with eight points, five rebounds, three assists, five steals and two blocks in 27 minutes off the bench.

Graduate forward Hannah Favaloro (Blackstone, Mass.) paced Clark with 17 points, a game-high 14 rebounds (five offensive) and five steals, while senior forward Hallie Johnson (Princeton, Mass.) checked in with 17 points, seven boards and a pair of blocked shots. Senior guard Emily Sifferlen (North Andover, Mass.) added 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes off the bench.

The Cougars scored the first 12 points of the game, with Johnson accounting for eight of them, and held a 20-13 lead after one. Trailing 20-9 with under a minute remaining in the opening period, the Bears used a 17-2 run over a 3 ½ minute stretch to take a 26-22 lead. Five players scored during the run with Dziadyk leading the way with five. Bridgewater would continue to hold the edge in play throughout the second quarter and closed out the first half with a 9-1 run capped off by a Dziadyk three-pointer to take a 14-point lead (42-38) into the break.

The BSU defense forced 15 turnovers in the first half and held the Cougars to 33% (11-33) shooting. The Bears connected on 41% (15-37) of their first-half field goals and went 10-for-14 (71%) at the free throw line.

Fitzgerald led the Bears with nine points off the bench over the first 20 minutes, while Dziadyk tallied eight. Johnson led all players with 13 first-half points.

The Bears maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the third quarter and entered the final period with a 61-48 lead. The Cougars reeled off seven straight points to open the fourth quarter including back-to-back buckets from Favaloro to pull to within six (61-55). Bridgewater answered with a 16-3 run, highlighted by five points apiece from Bradbury and Fitzgerald as well as four from Grassi, to open up a 19-point advantage (77-58) with four minutes left to play. The Cougars would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way as the Bears came away for the 83-70 victory.

The Bears shot 38% (27-72) for the game and connected on 23 of 29 (79%) free throw attempts. Bridgewater finished with the edge in points in the paint (38-28), points off turnovers (21-18) and second chance points (16-9). The BSU bench, led by Fitzgerald's 18, outscored the Clark reserves by a margin of 35-24.

The Cougars connected on 35% (23-65) of their field goal attempts and went 8-for-24 (33%) from behind the arc, but struggled mightily at the free throw line converting just 16 of 32 (50%) at the stripe.

The two teams combined for 45 turnovers.

The Bears are off until December 19th and 20th when they travel to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida for the St. Pete Classic. Bridgewater will take on LaGrange College on Sunday the 19th at one o'clock and Messiah University on Monday the 20th at seven o'clock. The Cougars are back in action on Sunday, December 19th when they entertain Johnson & Wales University at one.