Women's Basketball Bows to Hawaii-Hilo at the Big Island Holiday Classic

HILO, Hawaii – The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team wrapped up play at the Big Island Holiday Classic with a 63-48 setback to host University of Hawaii-Hilo on Sunday afternoon at Vulcan Gymnasium.

The Bears slip to 4-7 on the season while the Division II Vulcans improve to 3-5.

BSU junior guard Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.), who was named to the All-Classic Team, paced the visitors with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. The Bears also received 12 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots from junior center Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) as well as ten points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and three steals from senior guard Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.).

Hilo sophomore guard Keirstyn Agonias (Pahoa, Hawaii) led all players with 18 points on 9 of 13 shooting to go along with five rebounds and a pair of assists. Junior guard Jeniece Harmon (Fresno, Calif.) added 15 points, six rebounds and two assists for the Vulcans while sophomore guard Kaile Cruz (Milpitas, Calif.) tallied13 points and five boards. Harmon went 6-for-9 from the floor and 2-for-2 from behind the arc.

Agonias and Harmon earned All-Classic honors for Hawaii-Hilo.

Bridgewater trailed 19-18 after the first quarter. The Bears were a perfect 12-for-12 at the free throw line in the opening period but made only three (3-11) field goals.

The visitors converted 4 of 13 field goals in the second quarter and were held to ten points in the session. The Vulcans used a 16-5 run, capped off by a Kendall Oda (Fr., Torrance, Calif.) three-pointer, to turn a one-point game (22-21) into a 12-point advantage (38-26). Hilo would take a 42-28 lead into the break.

Harmon scored 13 points in the first half on perfect 5 of 5 shooting while Agonias added 12. Grassi tallied nine points and D'Amours notched eight over the first 20 minutes.

The Vulcans limited the Bears to 4 of 14 shooting and again just ten points in the third quarter. Hilo got up by as many as 21 points (57-36) in the session and headed into the final period with a 57-38 lead.

The BSU defense held the Vulcans to six points in a low scoring fourth quarter as the two teams combined for just 16 points. Bridgewater scored ten points over the first 5:32 of the period with a jumper by Tripp cutting the deficit to 13 (61-48) with 4:28 left to play. Cruz answered for Hilo at the other end of the floor with a jumper to account for the final tally of 63-48. Neither team scored over the final four minutes which featured nine missed field goals, two missed free throws and a pair of turnovers.

Bridgewater shot 28.3% (15-53) for the game including just 1-for-13 (7.7%) from three-point range. The Vulcans made 43.5% (27-62) of their field goal attempts with a 5-for-17 (29.4%) clip from behind the arc. The Bears went 17-for-21 (81%) at the frow line while the Vulcans made only eight trips (4-8) to the charity stripe.

Hilo finished with a 47-28 rebounding advantage with a 12-4 edge on the offensive glass.

The Bears are off until Saturday, January 30th when they travel to Bryant University for a two o'clock game with the Division I Bulldogs.