By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- They were looking forward to one last season together as Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High girls basketball teammates in the winter of 2023-24.
Chloe Azoff and her younger sister, Savannah, who reside in Sandwich, Mass., had been connected on the basketball court since a young age all the way up to their two seasons at D-Y.
But in the summer of '23, Savannah tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left leg, forcing her to miss her junior season while Chloe finished up her high school career as a senior.
After so many games and so many hours playing basketball side by side, their future as teammates was up in the air.
Chloe was heading to Bridgewater State University as a freshman in the 2024-25 academic year while Savannah would be returning to D-Y as a senior after rehabbing the knee injury.
Then, when Savannah began looking at Framingham State University as a possible spot for her to study and play basketball, the sisters could have become opponents.
Instead, Savannah decided to follow her sister to BSU in the 2025-26 academic year and become her teammate once again, this time with the Bears.
The basketball connection that was halted due to the ACL injury has resumed this season.
"She wanted to go to Framingham but for not too long," said Chloe. "I put my input in very soon. The idea of coming to school with me, having a support for her side of it made it easier to come to school. I have my best friend here."
Chloe and Savannah are the first sisters to be BSU women's basketball teammates since twins Hannah and Olivia Dziadyk finished their careers in 2022. Before that, sisters Colleen and Caitlin Feeney were together with the Bears ending in the 2007-08 season.
The current BSU sister act includes Chloe, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard, and Savannah, a 5-foot-5 freshman forward.
Chloe has appeared in 12 games, starting the first two of the season, and is averaging 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.8 minutes.
In her freshman season, Chloe played in 16 games, averaging 4.3 points and 1.3 rebounds. She appeared in both Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament games, helping the Bears win the championship with seven points against Westfield State and 11 points with three 3-pointers in the final against Framingham State.
Savannah, a walk-on who earned a roster spot in training camp, has played in all 17 games with six starts. She is second on the team with 20 3-pointers and is averaging 5.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 18 minutes.
It is just like old times for the Azoff sisters, starting about 15 years ago when they were living near West Point in New York before moving to Cape Cod nearly a decade ago.
After Chloe went through the ups and downs of being a college freshman last year, she can now offer plenty of advice to Savannah this year.
"She's such a help," said Savannah, a criminal justice major. "Whenever I'm feeling stressed or having a bad day or anything, she's always there for me, no matter what.
"If I have a bad game and I'm upset, she'll come to me and tell me that I'll be fine, I'm a freshman and have three more years of this."
Chloe suffered an ankle injury in the fall before the start of preseason practices, then reinjured the ankle against Smith College on Jan. 3, so her playing time has not been consistent.
She was witnessed up close as younger sister Savannah has moved into the rotation and had an impact. Against Smith, which is currently ranked sixth in the two national polls, Savannah scored 17 points with five 3-pointers, both career highs, to earn MASCAC Rookie of the Week honors.
"I am so beyond proud," said Chloe. "I'm a big family-first kind of a person. Watching her go out as a freshman, hitting five three's against Smith, it's been great. She's taking it as 'I'm not going to sit back.' Watching her change in personality, there truly are no words to say how proud of her I am.
"That's my best friend, that's my little mini-me, and I can't wait to continue to watch her grow."
Savannah has gone from walk-on who made a training camp impression to part of a rotation on a team that is 7-0 in the MASCAC with seven straight wins after a 1-9 start.
The Bears play Saturday at noon against Fitchburg State University at the Tinsley Center to open the second half of the MASCAC season.
"I was hoping to just make the team," said Savannah. "I didn't know if I was going to make it. Being a starter blew my mind.
"I've improved a lot. I feel like my shot is better. I've gotten stronger and more confident."
Chloe, a health science major, liked what she saw at BSU when deciding on a college.
"It was the best fit for me," she said. "I really loved the coaching staff. All the girls when I came here for an overnight were just absolutely lovely.
"The coaches really made an impact and made it feel like home immediately. I came in to what a family is."
Savannah made the trip from the Cape to Bridgewater last winter to see games and was on hand when her sister and the Bears won twice in the MASCAC tournament to earn a spot in the NCAAs.
"I loved it," she said. "I loved how the students came to support them and how the environment was."
So Savannah followed the path of her sister, landing at BSU where they are once again teammates.
Savannah said one of her first memories of them playing together was when they were about five and six years old, and the family has a video of them sharing a most valuable player award in a recreation league.
Now they have three full seasons together at BSU.
"It would have been really tough (going to Framingham State and being an opponent)," said Savannah. "I'm really happy. I made the right decision coming here, for sure. I really like playing with my sister."
Said Chloe, "I think this is the best place she could be at. We've been playing together since we were four and five. Once I left D-Y, I had a feeling she would come here. I was very happy when she decided to come here."
Now they are adding to a life filled with shared basketball memories, even some that were not so positive.
"When we were younger," said Savannah, "we would fight, but we have grown out of that."