Women's Basketball Rallies for 56-47 MASCAC Win Over Salem

By Jim Fenton

SALEM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team held Salem State University scoreless in the fourth quarter and rallied for its ninth straight victory Wednesday night.

The Bears overcame an 11-point deficit and moved past the Vikings, 56-47, at the Twohig Gymnasium, outscoring the hosts, 20-0, in the final 10 minutes.

BSU (10-9) improved to 9-0 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference and is riding a nine-game winning streak.

Salem State (9-11) fell to 5-4 in the conference after struggling in the fourth quarter.

The Bears were down, 47-36, going into the last 10 minutes and dominated down the stretch.

The Vikings missed the only six shots they managed in the final quarter and turned the ball over 12 times.

Junior Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting and had four rebounds for BSU.

Freshman Emilie von der Linden (Sabornville, N.H.) added 11 points and six rebounds.

Freshman Savannah Azoff (Sandwich, Mass.) scored nine points to go with four steals and three rebounds.

Salem State was led by senior Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.), who scored 29 points on 10-for-21 shooting to go with 16 rebounds, four steals and a pair of blocked shots.

BSU made 39 percent of its shots and had 22 turnovers while Salem State hit only 30 percent of its shots and turned the ball over 24 times.

The Bears were outscored, 23-7, in the third quarter after holding a 29-24 halftime lead.

The Vikings began the second half on an 11-0 run to go up, 35-29, before von der Linden scored with 3:49 left in the third quarter.

BSU missed three shots and turned the ball over seven times before scoring its first points of the second half.

Goncalves scored 17 of her points in that third quarter.

Salem State owned a 47-36 lead going into the last quarter, but the Bears scored 12 straight points to take the lead for good at 48-47 with 5:58 remaining.

Senior Haley Burchhardt (Schentady, N.Y.) and von der Linden made two free throws each, Bradbury made two straight baskets, including a three-pointer, Azoff connected on a foul shot and sophomore Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) converted off an offensive rebound during the run.

A foul shot and jumper by Azoff gave BSU a 53-47 edge with 1:46 to play and the Bears added three more points while keeping the Vikings off the scoreboard in the quarter.

BSU was up, 14-12, after one qurter and trailed, 22-18, with 3:53 to go in the half before going on an 11-2 run in the last 3:23.

Bradbury started the run with a layup and junior Emily Quinn (Lancaster, Mass.) ended it with a layup with 11 seconds to go in the half.

BSU has now won 20 straight MASCAC games, including two in the tournament last year. Its last conference loss was to the Vikings.

The Bears will be home Saturday at noon to face Anna Maria on Senior Day and Alumni Day at the Tinsley Center.

Salem State plays at Framingham State on Saturday at noon.