Women's Basketball Opens MASCAC Play with 77-69 Win Over Salem State

SALEM, Mass. – Junior guard Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) scored 29 points to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a 77-69 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over Salem State University on Wednesday evening at Twohig Gymnasium.

The game marked the MASCAC opener for both teams. The Bears improve to 5-8 (1-0 MASCAC) on the season while the Vikings fall to 6-7 (0-1 MASCAC). Bridgewater has won each of the last 11 meetings of the two teams.

Grassi, who was a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line, also added seven rebounds (three offensive), three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.

The Bears also received 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals from senior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) as well as 11 points, seven rebounds(four offensive), five assists, two steals and one block from senior forward Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.). Junior guard Eryn Rice (Medway, Mass.) provided a spark with eight points in 16 minutes off the bench.

Sophomore forward Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.) posted a double-double with 29 points and a game-high 18 rebounds (eight offensive) to lead the way for Salem State. Senior guard Kylie Gates (Pembroke, Mass.) also record a double-double for the Vikings as she scored 18 points and dished out a game-best ten assists to go along with six rebounds (three offensive). Junior forward Abuk Teng (Manchester, N.H.) checked in with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Bridgwater State controlled play in the first half. The Bears, who never trailed in the game, scored the first seven points of the game, and used a 12-1 run late in the second quarter to take a comfortable 20-point lead (43-23) into the break.

The BSU defensive forced 16 turnovers over the first 20 minutes which led to a 13-2 advantage in points off turnovers. Grassi scored 16 points in the first half while Rice sparked the Bears with seven points off the bench.

The Vikings chipped away at the deficit in the second half to climb back into the game. Goncalves scored 20 of her 29 points over the final 20 minutes including 11 in the fourth quarter before fouling out with. Salem went 21-for-26 at the free throw line in the second half after making just four trips to the charity stripe prior to halftime. The Vikings also outrebounded the Bears on the offensive glass in the third and fourth quarters by a margin of 12-4.

Trailing 70-57 with 4:25 left to play in the game, the Vikings held the Bears to just a Grassi three-pointer over the next three minutes and cut the deficit to seven (73-66) following a Teng layup with a little over a minute showing on the scoreboard. The next three possessions resulted in turnover before Gates made one of two at the line with 50 seconds remaining to close the gap to six at 73-67.

Senior guard Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) made one of two free throws for the Bears and Gates sank a pair of free throws at the other end of the floor to make it a five-point game (74-68) with just 21 seconds on the clock. That, however, would be as close as the Vikings would get as the Bears made 3 of 4 at the charity stripe over the final 18 seconds including two from Grassi to help secure the win.

After shooting 40.5% in the first half, with a 4-for-11 clip from three-points range, Bridgewater converted just 9 of 28 field goal attempts (32.1%) over the final 20 minutes including 2-for-11 from behind the arc. The Bears were very good at the line during the contest knocking down 19 of 23 (82.6%) free throw attempts.

Salem shot 34.9% (22-63) for the game and went 23-for-30 (76.7%) at the stripe. The Vikings held a 51-40 rebounding advantage for the game (19-14 offensive) but turned the ball over 24 times.

The BSU bench outscored the Salem reserves by a significant margin of 20-2.

The MASCAC schedule continues on Saturday as the Bears entertain Framingham State University at noon. The Vikings are off until next Wednesday when they travel to Framingham State to take on the Rams at 5:30.