Women's Basketball Rolls to 91-46 Win Over Wellesley at The Cave Classic

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team cruised to a 91-46 victory over visiting Wellesley College in the opening game of the three-day BSU Cave Classic on Friday evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears remain unbeaten on the season as they improve to 4-0, while the Blue fall to 2-3.

Sophomore forward Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) led five players in double-digit scoring for Bridgewater State. Grassi tallied a game-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocked shots.

Senior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) added 14 points for the Bears on 4 of 10 shooting from behind the arc. Bradbury also recorded six rebounds and four assists.

Bridgewater also received 13 points, five rebounds and two assists from senior guard Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.), as well as 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals from senior guard Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.). Freshman forward Kennedy Franklin (New Bedford, Mass.) came off the bench to score a career-high ten points to go along with three rebounds, two assists, a steal and two blocks in 14 minutes of action.

Bridgewater State led 46-22 at the break as the BSU defense held the Blue to 29.4% shooting (10-34) in the first half.  Eight different players scored for the Bears over the first two quarters led by nine points from Gaucher and eight by Grassi.

Bridgewater was never threatened in the second half. An 11-4 run to open the third quarter capped off by a Gaucher layup pushed the lead to over 30 points (57-26). The Bears got up by as many as 33 points in the third quarter and the final score of 91-46 marked the biggest lead of the game.

The Bears shot 50% (38-76) on the evening and held a decided 50-12 advantage in points in the paint. Bridgewater also finished with a 53-30 rebounding advantage including a 19-10 edge on the offensive glass which led to a 21-3 differential in second chance points.

Ten different players finished in the scoring column for the hosts.

Sophomore guard Sairah O'Brien-Forde (Binghamton, N.Y.) filled the stat sheet with seven points, a game-high nine rebounds, four assists and a steal in 25 minutes off the bench to lead the way for Wellesley. Junior guard Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) added a team-high ten points for the Blue, while senior forward Pujita Shukla (Austin, Texas) and freshman guard Yitzel Serna (Palmdale, Calif.) checked in with eight points apiece off the bench.

The Blue shot 30% (18-60) for the game, including just 2-for-11 (18%) from behind the arc, and turned the ball over 17 times.

The BSU Cave Classic continues on Saturday evening with Wellesley taking on Emerson College at five o'clock. The Bears will face-off against Emerson on Sunday at noon to wrap things up.