Rally Falls Short as Women's Basketball Falls to Redlands, 71-65

By Jim Fenton

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team made a furious bid for a comeback victory in its second game at the 15th annual D3hoops.com Classic Tuesday afternoon.

Trailing by 14 points with seven minutes remaining, the Bears closed within just three points of the University of Redlands with 1:12 to go.

But the Bulldogs held off BSU down the stretch for a 71-65 win at the South Point Arena, handing the Bears (1-8) their eighth loss in a row.

BSU had started its trip out west on Sunday by dropping a 72-70 overtime decision to Whittier College. The Bears had a four-night stay in Las Vegas and were scheduled to be back home Wednesday morning.

Redlands, of California, improved to 8-1 with its sixth straight win. The Bulldogs went 2-0 in Las Vegas, defeating another New England team, Wesleyan University, 64-31, on Monday.

BSU trailed from start to finish against Redlands, a member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference but turned up its defense in the closing minutes to make things interesting.

Sophomore Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) led the Bears with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting with four rebounds.

Also in double figures was senior Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) with 10 points plus five rebounds and a pair of assists.

Freshman Emilie von der Linden (Sanbornville, N.H.) grabbed 14 points to go with nine points and four blocked shots.

Sisters Savannah Azoff (Sandwich, Mass.), a freshman, and sophomore Chloe Azoff (Sandwich, Mass.) each scored nine points.

Samantha Azoff added five assists, three steals and three rebounds.

Redlands was led by senior Colbi Zorich (Woodinville, Wash.) with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Junior AJ Wick (Henderson, Nev.) added 12 points and nine rebounds while senior Leila Hosn (Seattle, Wash.) scored 11 points to go with four assists.

Sophomore Andrea Perkins (Seal Beach, Calif.) was also in double figures with 10 points plus four rebounds.

Redlands made 17 of 18 foul shots, missing the only one in the closing seconds.

BSU was down, 59-44, going into the fourth quarter and faced a 64-50 deficit with 7:15 remaining after senior Aliyah Anderson (Oceanside, Calif.) made a 3-pointer.

But the Bears outscored the Bulldogs, 15-4, over a span of 5:43 to pull within 68-65 with just over a minute left.

O'Sullivan-Van Etten scored the first seven points with a three-point play and two jumpers, making it 64-57 with 4:44 left.

After a jumper by Zorich put the lead at 68-59, BSU answered with six points in a row, getting two foul shots from Burchhardt, a steal and layup by senior Mairead Gallagher (Bridgewater, Mass.) and a Burchhardt layup following a Savannah Azoff steal.

After forcing a ten-second violation, the Bears had a chance to tie the game or pull within one, but turned the ball over.

Redlands missed a shot at the other end of the floor but grabbed the offensive rebound. Hosn then gave the Bulldogs a 70-65 lead with two foul shots.

After a miss by BSU, freshman Teagan McIlroy (Phoenix, Ariz.) added a foul shot with three shots remaining.

BSU shot 52 percent (17-for-33) in the second half after struggling throughout the first half.

The Bulldogs were in front, 24-11, after one quarter and 38-24 at halftime.

The Bears made only 4 of 14 shots in the first quarter and went 3-for-15 in the second quarter. They shot 24 percent (7-for-29) in the first half and had 11 turnovers.

Redlands jumped to a 10-0 lead in the opening 2:31 as Hosn made a basket and a 3-pointer, Perkins connected on a 3-pointer and McIlroy converted two foul shots before BSU scored.

von der Linden posted the first points for the Bears with a layup with 7:13 to go in the quarter. She also hit a jumper 32 seconds later and Burchhardt added two free throws to get BSU within 10-6.

But the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run in 2:52 for a 20-6 lead with 2:28 left in the quarter.

Senior Carly Hicks (Portland, Ore.) made a pair of 3-pointers in that stretch while BSU went 0-for-6 with three turnovers.

A 3-pointer by BSU sophomore Reese Bartlett (Norwood, Mass.) snapped the run with 1:40 to go.

Redlands stretched the lead to 30-13 as the Bears managed just two foul shots by O'Sullivan-Van Etten before getting their first basket of the second quarter.

BSU missed six shots and had a pair of turnovers prior to junior Emily Quinn (Lancaster, Mass.) hitting a 3-pointer with 5:18 to go in the half.

The Bears managed to pull within 32-21 on a layup by Chloe Azoff with 3:40 left, but BSU was able to get only three foul shots the rest of the half.

In the third quarter, the Bears made 9 of 16 shots and were within 10 points early, but they trailed, 59-44, going into the final 10 minutes.

Baskets in the opening minute by O'Sullivan-Van Etten and Burchhardt made it 38-28 with 9:13 left in the quarter and a jumper by von der Linden had BSU down, 40-40, with 8:07 to go.

But BSU scored just six points in the next 4:52 and fell behind, 52-36.

A drive by Savannah Azoff and a basket by O'Sullivan-Van Etten had the lead down to 52-40 with 2:29 remaining, but a basket by Zorich and a 3-pointer by Perkins pushed the edge up to 57-40.

BSU faces a difficult assignment on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Northampton, Mass., to face nationally ranked Smith College at 2 p.m.

Smith is off to an 8-0 start and lost in the NCAA Division III championship game the past two seasons to New York University. Smith owns a 150-16 record since the start of the 2019-20 season.

The Bears lost at home to Smith last season, 83-50.

In the latest national polls, Smith was ranked No. 3 (Women's Basketball Coaches Association) and No. 4 (D3hoops.com).

BSU opens the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at Fitchburg State University.