Women's Basketball Opens Home Slate with 70-61 Win Over MIT

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team used a strong fourth quarter to post a 70-61 victory over visiting MIT on Friday night at the Tinsley Center.

The game marked the home opener for the Bears who improve to 2-1 on the young season. The Engineers fall to 1-2 with the setback.

The two teams were meeting for just the second time with the Engineers coming away with an 89-82 win last season at the Rockwell Cage in Cambridge.

Senior Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.), graduate student Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.) and senior Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State. Grassi scored 22 points to go along with nine rebounds and three assists. Piche tallied 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting and added six rebounds, five assists and nine steals. D'Amours checked in with 13 points, five boards and a pair of steals.

Senior Kamsi Nwogu (Algonquin, Ill.) led MIT with double-double totals of 22 points and a game-high ten rebounds. Nwogu also blocked five shots.

The Engineers also received 12 points from senior Sarah Berman (York, Pa.) in 25 minutes off the bench.

Bridgewater forced 22 turnovers, led by Piche's nine steals, and held a 27-14 advantage in points off turnovers.

The first half featured two ties and four lead changes. Bridgewater State led by as many as eight points and held a 34-30 lead at the break. The Bears did not give up an offensive rebound over the first 20 minutes.

MIT closed out the third quarter with a 13-2 run to turn a seven-point deficit (42-35) into a 48-44 lead heading into the final period. Berman ignited the run with back-to-back three-pointers.

Bridgewater scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter capped off by a Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) trifecta to move back on top, 53-48. Another Berman three-pointer, her fourth of the game, followed by an Elise Harvey (Sr., Wayland, Mass.) layup knotted the score at 55-55 with 6:17 left to play.

The BSU defense then held the Engineers to just one point over the next four-plus minutes. MIT turned the ball over twice, went 0-for-7 from the floor and 1-for-4 at the free throw line during that stretch.

Two buckets apiece by Grassi and D'Amours, and a pair Mairead Gallagher (Jr., Bridgewater, Mass.) free throws accounted for the 10-1 BSU run as the Bears opened a 63-54 lead with under two minutes remaining.

A traditional three-point play by Nwogu got the Engineers to within six, but Piche score the next five points on two layups and a free throw to make it an 11-point game (68-57) and, for all intents and purposes, seal the win as the clock ticked under a minute.

Both teams were under 40% shooting for the game. The Bears shot 38% (27-71) from the floor and 21% (4-19) from three-point range while the Engineers connected on 37% (23-62) of their field goal attempts with a 6-for-20 (30%) clip from behind the arc.

Bridgewater went 12-for-19 (63%) at the free throw line. MIT finished just 9-for-16 (56%) at the stripe.

The Bears are back in action next Friday evening at 5:30 when they host Eastern Connecticut State University in the opening game of the BSU Cave Classic. The Engineers travel to Emmanuel College on Tuesday night to take on the Saints at seven o'clock.