Women's Basketball Falls to LaGrange at St. Pete Classic

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team dropped a 77-73 decision to LaGrange College on Sunday afternoon at the St. Pete Classic held at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Bears fall to 8-4 on the season with the setback, while the Panthers improve to 7-4.

Five players scored in double figures for LaGrange led by junior guard Gracie Brunel (Broxton, Ga.) who tallied a game-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists, a blocked shot and a game-best six steals. Junior forward Breonna Glover (Macon, Ga.) posted a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds (five offensive) in 18 minutes off the bench for the Panthers, while freshman guard Britney Chavez (Birmingham, Ala.) checked in with 14 points and three rebounds. Freshman guard Ema Turner (Dalton, Ga.) and senior guard Jalaya Lewis (St. Simons Island, Ga.) added ten points apiece with Lewis also pulling down six rebounds.

Senior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) notched 16 points and five rebounds to lead a contingent of five Bears in double figure scoring. Fitzgerald connected on 8 of 11 field goal attempts in 17 minutes off the bench. Junior guard Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.) added 13 points and a season-high seven rebounds for Bridgewater State, while junior guard Sydney Bradbury (East  Bridgewater, Mass.) posted her second straight double-double with 11 points and ten boards to go along with four assists. Junior guard Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) added 12 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Bears, and senior guard Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) checked in with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.

LaGrange used a 20-4 first quarter run to open up a 23-7 first quarter lead. The Panthers knocked down four three-pointers during the spurt including two apiece from Turner and Chavez. The Bears got a close as nine points (29-20) in the second period and trailed 43-33 following a Fitzgerald layup with 1:44 remaining until halftime. LaGrange, however, scored the final five points of the period to take a 48-33 lead into the break.

Fitzgerald tallied 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting over the first 20 minutes, while Chavez paced the Panthers with 11 first-half points.

LaGrange shot 56% (18-32) from the floor in the first half including an impressive 8-for-11 (73%) from behind the arc, while the Bears connected on 41% (14-34) of their field goal attempts.

The Panthers maintained the double-digit advantage throughout most of the third quarter and got up by as many as 17 points (50-33) in the period. A Fitzgerald layup with 2:34 remaining in the quarter capped off a 7-0 BSU run and pulled the Bears to within nine at 58-49. LaGrange, however, answered the run by scoring six of the final eight points of the period, including four from Brunel, to take a 64-51 lead into the final quarter.

Bridgewater cut the deficit to nine (64-55) early in the fourth quarter on a Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) layup. A bucket by junior center Jada Strickland (Fairburn, Ga.) followed by a Chavez trifecta quickly pushed the LaGrange lead up to 69-55 with 7:44 left to play. The Bears then held the Panthers to just one field goal and one free throw over the next five minutes and used a 12-2 run during that stretch to help close the gap to five (72-67). With under 30 seconds remaining, Bradbury knocked down 1 of 2 free throws to make it a four-point game, 77-73. Bridgewater secured the offensive rebound off the missed free throw, but a three-point attempt was off the mark. The Bears were then forced to foul and the Panthers obliged by missing both ends of a two-shot foul with 15 seconds showing on the scoreboard. Bridgewater was unable to connect on a pair of three-point attempts in the waning seconds as the Panthers held on for the 77-73 victory.

After a solid shooting performance in the first half, LaGrange connected on just 13 of 37 (35%) field goals over the final two quarters including 1-for-9 behind the arc. The Panthers also struggled at the free throw line throughout the contest finishing 6-for-17 from the charity stripe.

The Bears shot 37% (28-75) for the game and went 4-for-19 (21%) from three-point range and 13-for-23 (57%) at the line.

Both teams will wrap up play at the St. Pete Classic on Monday. The Bears will take on the Falcons of Messiah University at 7:00 PM, while the Panthers face the Tigers of DePauw University at 11:00 AM.