Women's Basketball Rallies for 79-74 Overtime Win Over Babson

By Jim Fenton

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team earned its first victory of the season in dramatic fashion Wednesday night.

The Bears overcame a six-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to force overtime, then moved past Babson College in the extra session for a 79-74 victory at the Staake Gymnasium.

Senior Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) scored six points and grabbed two rebounds in the OT to lead BSU (1-1) past the Beavers (1-2).

The Bears had trailed, 61-55, with 3:26 remaining in the fourth quarter before going on an 11-5 run to make it 66-66 at the end of regulation. A layup by Cleveland with nine seconds to go forged the tie.

Senior Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) led five BSU scorers in double figures with 20 points to go with six rebounds and three steals.

Grassi now has 1,234 career points, moving past Stephanie Hurley (1,221 points from 1999-2003) into fourth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list.

Cleveland finished with a double-double, getting 15 points and 15 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals.

Graduate student Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.) added 13 points, seven steals and four rebounds and senior Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) had 12 points and six rebounds.

Freshman Lexi Thompson (New Bedford, Mass.) came off the bench to contribute 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

Babson was led by senior Katelyn Mollica (Foxboro, Mass.) with 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers. Sophomore Samantha Reale (North Attleboro, Mass.) added 22 points and eight rebounds while senior Emily Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Reale connected on 8 of 14 field goals but went just 6-for-12 at the charity stripe with three crucial missed free throws in the closing seconds of regulation.

The game was tied three times in OT, the last time at 73-73 when junior Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) hit a foul shot with 1:55 remaining.

Cleveland gave BSU the lead for good at 75-73 with a layup with 1:08 to go.

Senior Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) got Babson within 75-74 with a foul shot, but Cleveland made a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left for a 77-74 lead.

Burchhardt grabbed a rebound with 19 seconds remaining, then hit a pair of foul shots for the five-point bulge.

After trailing by six with just over three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, BSU got a layup from Thompson with 3:14 remaining and two Piche foul shots to get within 61-59.

Mollica and Grassi exchanged baskets and it was 63-61 with two minutes remaining and a Piche foul shot made it 63-62 with 1:30 left.

Following a Grassi steal, D'Amours hit two foul shots with 36 seconds left to put BSU up, 64-63. An offensive rebound by Reale turned into a three-point play with 15 seconds to go, giving the Beavers a 66-64 advantage.

Cleveland then scored the layup with nine seconds left. The Bears survived when Babson was fouled attempting a three-pointer with just 0.3 seconds showing on the scoreboard but missed all three free throws as the game went into OT.

BSU was behind, 16-12, after one quarter, as it was outscored, 10-0, in the final 4:43. The Bears went 0-for-6 with four turnovers in that stretch.

Babson held a 30-29 lead at halftime after Reale made three foul shots in the last 23 seconds.

The Bears had gone on a 12-2 run after trailing, 25-16, with 4:40 left in the half.

BSU had a 47-44 lead after three quarters with Grassi making a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to cap a 9-0 run. The Bears were behind, 44-38, after a Mollica 3-pointer.

BSU had dropped four straight games to Babson, and the loss ended the Beavers streak of five consecutive wins in their home opener.

The Bears are now 5-19 against Babson in a series that started in 1988. It was their first visit to Babson since 2009.

The Beavers had lost to defending national champion New York University in its previous game.

BSU plays its next seven games at the Tinsley Center, starting Friday night when MIT visits at 7:30 p.m.

The Bears had opened the season last week, losing to Division 1 Bryant.