Women's Basketball Runs Winning streak to 10 with 65-46 Senior Day Win Over Anna Maria

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- For the second straight season, the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team has put together a double-digit winning streak.

The Bears made it 10 consecutive victories on Saturday afternoon, leading from start to finish in a 65-46 win over Anna Maria College at the Tinsley Center.

BSU (11-9) improved to 10-0 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference and owns a two-game lead in the standings over Framingham State University following the win on Senior Day and Alumni Day.

The Bears had a 12-game winning streak in the 2024-25 season that started Jan. 11 and ended in the NCAA Division III tournament on March 1.

BSU has now won at least 10 games in a row five times since Bridgett Casey became the head coach in the 1997-98 season.

Prior to the victory, the Bears honored senior captains Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) and Mairead Gallagher (Bridgewater, Mass.).

Sophomore Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) led BSU by scoring a career-high 20 points, making 8 of 14 shots and hitting both of her 3-pointers. O'Sullivan-Van Etten also had six steals and five rebounds in the win.

Burchhardt added 13 points and grabbed five rebounds while junior Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 10 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, and had four steals.

Freshman Emilie von der Linden (Sanbornville, N.H.) had eight points, six rebounds and two blocked shots while Gallagher grabbed eight rebounds with six assists and scored four points with two steals.

Anna Maria was led by senior Arianna Saladini (Fitchburg, Mass.) with 12 points, four rebounds and two steals while junior Sarah O'Connor (Leicester, Mass.) added 13 rebounds, six points and five assists.

BSU held a double-digit lead over the final 35 minutes of the game.

The Bears opened a 19-4 lead after one quarter and was ahead, 29-7, at halftime. Anna Maria outscored BSU, 39-36, in the second half.

The AMCATS (7-12, 3-6 MASCAC) shot 3-for-22 in the first half with 20 turnovers that resulted in 17 points for the Bears.

BSU raced to an 11-0 lead just 2:39 into the game with O'Sullivan-Van Etten scoring five points while Gallagher and Burchhardt hit 3-pointers.

Anna Maria's first basket came on a jumper by Saladini with 6:32 to go in the quarter followed by a jumper by O'Connor 32 seconds later.

Leading 13-4, the Bears went on a 6-0 run to hold the 19-4 advantage after the first quarter.

BSU missed its final seven shots of the period and Anna Maria went 0-for-8 to end the quarter as neither team scored following a van der Linden layup with 4:10 to go.

The Bears scored the first five points of the second quarter for a 24-4 lead, getting a 3-pointer from Bradbury and a layup by sophomore Chole Azoff (Sandwich, Mass.).

Anna Maria scored only three points in the quarter -- a foul shot with 5:20 to go by Saladina and a layup by sophomore Hannah Baxter (Petersham, Mass.) with 1:08 remaining.

The AMCATS went 1-for-10 with 13 turnovers after having seven points and missing 10 of 12 shots in the first quarter.

BSU was up by 22 at the break despite scoring one basket in the final 4:25 of the half on a layup by O'Sullivan-Van Etten.

Anna Maria opened the second half on a 9-2 run to get within 31-16 with 6:25 left in the third quarter. Junior Tiffany Salazar (Webster, Mass.) hit a pair of 3-pointers and sophomore Meaghan Doyle (Hardwick, Mass.) added one for the AMCATS.

BSU's first basket of the half came with 5:52 to go in the quarter when Burchhardt made a jumper.

The Bears used a 9-2 run, getting five points from Bradbury, to take a 42-20 lead and went into the fourth quarter ahead, 49-29.

Anna Maria, in its first season in the MASCAC, didn't get any closer than 17 in the fourth quarter.

BSU made 37 percent of its shots while Anna Maria hit 35 percent. The AMCATS finished with 29 turnovers while the Bears had 19 steals.

The Bears play their final non-conference game of the regular season Monday, hosting Connecticut College of the New England Small College Athletic Conference at 5:30 p.m. That will be the annual Play4Kay game to raise awareness for cancer.

The Bears resume the MASCAC schedule on Wednesday, traveling to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Anna Maria will host MCLA on Monday at 5 p.m.