Women's Basketball Falls to D2 Angelo State, 88-79, at the Big Island Classic

HILO, Hawaii – The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team dropped a tough 88-79 decision to Division II Angelo State University on Friday night at the Big Island Classic hosted by University of Hawaii-Hilo.

The Bears slip to 4-6 on the season with the setback. The Rambelles, who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament last season, improve to 8-4 on the 2023-2024 campaign.

ASU senior forward Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant (Amarillo, Texas) led all players with game highs of 30 points and 15 rebounds. McGhee-Pleasant went 9 for 16 from the floor and 10-for-14 at the free throw line, and eight of her 15 boards came off the offensive glass.

The Rambelles also received 19 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals from senior guard Sawyer Lloyd (Wall, Texas), and 12 points and seven boards from junior forward Madeline Stephens (Lubbock, Texas).

Junior guard Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with 25 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists. Grassi went 12-for-15 at the free throw line and 22 of her 25 points came in the second half.

Junior center Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) checked in with a career-high 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting to go along with three rebounds and a pair of assists for the Bears while senior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, and senior guard Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and three steals.

Bridgewater opened the game with a 9-2 run and led 13-7 following a Sophia Gaucher (Gr., Lakeville, Mass.) driving layup with just over six minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Bears, however, were held to just one field goal over the final six minutes of the period as the Rambelles closed out the session with a 15-2 spurt to carry a 22-15 lead into the second quarter.

Angelo State carried the momentum into the second quarter scoring the first 11 points to take a 33-15 advantage. All told, the Rambelles outscored the Bears 26-2 over a ten-plus minute stretch encompassing both the first and second quarters.

The Bears trailed 40-20 with 3:18 remaining until halftime but scored 12 of the final 16 points of the period to make it a 12-point deficit (44-32) at the break.  Three-pointers by D'Amours and Bradbury keyed the 12-4 run.

Bridgewater shot 35% (12-34) in the first half and went 5-for-17 (29.4%) from behind the arc. Bradbury scored eight points over the first 20 minutes to pace the Bears.

Angelo State connected on 18 of 48 (37.5%) field goals in the first half and just 2-for-11 (18.2%) from three-point range. McGhee-Pleasant tallied 12 points before the intermission.

Both teams struggled at the free throw line over the first two periods. The Bears went just 3-for-9 at the stripe while the Rambelles knocked down 6 of 11 free throw attempts.

Angelo State got up by as much as 21 points on two separate occasions in the third quarter including a 56-35 lead with 6:29 showing on the scoreboard.  Bridgewater chipped away and entered the final period trailing by 13 (68-55).

A McGhee-Pleasant jumper with 6 ½ minutes left to play in game extended the ASU advantage to 76-60. The Bears, however, would respond with a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to close the gap to six (76-70) with D'Amours and Grassi combining for all ten points. The Rambelles missed five shots during that stretch and turned the ball over three times. The third turnover gave Bridgewater a chance to draw even closer, but the Bears gave the ball right back and Lloyd knocked down a jumper from just inside the arc to push the lead up to 78-70 with just over three minutes remaining.

Junior forward Jordan Peebles (Middleboro, Mass.) answered for the Bears with a layup to again make it a six-point game. The Rambelles, however, capitalized on another key offensive rebound at the other end of the floor which led to back-to-back jumpers by Lloyd to push the ASU advantage back up to double digits at 82-72 as the clock ticked under two minutes. Bridgewater would get no closer than seven the rest of the way. McGhee-Pleasant scored the Rambelles' final six points including 4-for-4 at the free throw line to secure the win.

Bridgewater went 10-for-15 (66.7) from the floor in the fourth quarter and 4-for-5 at the charity stripe to help claw their way back from a 21-point second half deficit.

Angelos State finished with a 55-39 rebounding advantage for the game including a 23-11 edge on the offensive glass which led to a 25-11 differential in second chance points The Rambelles also outscored the Bears in the paint, 46-28.

Bridgewater turned the ball over 22 times while ASU committed 18 miscues. Points off turnovers were even at 22 apiece.

The Bears wrap up play at the Big Island Holiday Classic on Sunday afternoon as they take on host Hawaii-Hilo at two o'clock (7:00 PM ET).

Notes: Grassi has scored at least 19 points in nine of the Bears ten games this season…Bradbury went 3-for-8 from behind the arc as she now as 152 made three-pointers in her career. She is the fourth Bear to reach the 150 mark joining BSU Hall of Famer and all-time leading scorer Jenna Williamson (210) as well as Corey Cuddihy (180) and Elisha Homich (159).