Women's Basketball Drops 73-53 Decision to WPI

By Jim Fenton

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team was dealt its third straight loss on Wednesday night.

The Bears never led in a 73-53 non-conference loss to Worcester Polytechnic Institute at the WPI Sports and Recreation Center.

The game had been postponed Tuesday night due to the storm that hit the area.

Junior Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 18 points and made four 3-pointers to lead the Bears (1-3).

Bradbury fell just short of her career highs with BSU. She had scored 19 points with five 3-pointers against Salem State on Jan. 8, 2025.

Freshman Savannah Azoff (Sandwich, Mass.) scored nine points and had three rebounds for the Bears while senior Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) added eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

WPI (4-2, three straight wins) was led by junior Ava Giansiracusa (Wethersfield, Conn.) with 25 points. Giansiracusa hit 9 of 10 shots and was 4-for-4 on 3-pointers while adding five steals, four rebounds and three assists.

Junior Leila Nielsen (New York, N.Y.) scored 12 points to go with four assists and three rebounds and junior Emmy Allyn (Rutland, Mass.) scored 11 points and had four rebounds and three steals.

WPI shot 47 percent while the Bears made just 36 percent.

BSU was 7-for-15 on 3-pointers but just 13 of 41 on two-pointers. The Bears also turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 25 points.

BSU trailed after one quarter, 19-11, when it committed seven turnovers that led to 16 points by the Engineers.

WPI opened with a 7-0 lead in the first 1:55 as Neilsen had five of the points, a jumper and a 3-pointer.

Two Bradbury 3-pointers moved the Bears within 7-6 less than a minute later and a jumper by sophomore Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) had BSU within 10-8.

But the Engineers scored six points in a row, sophomore Kayla Goldrick (Attleboro, Mass.) hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer in the run.

Bradbury made another 3-pointer, giving her nine of BSU's 11 points in the quarter, before WPI finished the quarter with an eight-point bulge.

The Engineers opened a 32-15 lead with 5:22 to go in the half, limiting the Bears to four points in the opening 4:45 of the second quarter.

BSU managed just baskets by Burchhardt and junior Ashleigh Johnson (Carver, Mass.) as it fell behind by 17.

Another Bradbury 3-pointer made it 35-23 with 3:57 left in the half, but Giansiracusa made a 3-pointer and junior Allison Fullem (Underhill, Vt.) added a basket to push the lead to 40-23.

Allyn closed the half with two foul shots with 29 seconds to go for a 46-29 WPI lead.

The Engineers held a 60-41 advantage after three quarters.

BSU scored the first points of the third quarter on a layup by Burchhardt 44  seconds in, but WPI scored six straight to get the margin over 20 for the first time at 52-31.

The Engineers were up by 22 on two occasions (58-36 and 60-38) and the Bears were no closer than 18 in the quarter.

The closest the Bears got in the final 10 minutes was 66-51 when junior Emily Quinn (Lancaster, Mass.) made two foul shots.

The game was the 20th between the Bears and the Engineers with WPI holding an 11-9 advantage.

BSU will be at the Tinsley Center for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday against Babson College.

WPI plays a second straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Saturday, hosting Salem State at 2 p.m.