BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- In MASCAC women's basketball action, Bridgewater State College erased a 16 point second-half deficit and went on to defeat Salem State College, 55-54, on Thursday evening at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
Both teams entered the contest as the only unbeaten teams in the MASCAC at 4-0. The Bears have now won nine straight games as they improve to 14-3 overall. The Vikings record drops to 13-4 with the loss.
Bridgewater State was led by senior forward Colleen Feeney (Providence, RI) who notched her sixteenth double-double of the season with a game-high 16 points and 16 rebounds to go along with 4 blocked shots. Senior guard Caitlin Feeney (Providence, RI) chipped in with 10 points and 6 assists, while fellow senior Justine Farroba (North Attleboro, MA) added 12 points while swiping a game-high four steals.
Michelle Gosselin (Underhill Center, VT) scored a team-high 14 points for Salem State while Melissa Macchi (Peabody, MA)) added 11 points and eight rebounds. Lindsey Watkins (Wareham, MA) had a great all-around game for the Vikings with 8 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.
Salem State took a commanding 32-19 lead into the locker room as they held Bridgewater State to 25% (7-for-28) shooting from the floor in the first half. The Vikings also held a hefty 33-18 rebounding margin at the close of the first stanza.
In the second half, the Bears turned it around shooting 50% (12-24) from the floor. They also held Salem to just 28.6% (8-for-28) shooting from the field. Bridgewater out-rebounded the Lady Vikings 22-17 in the final stanza and recorded 9 steals and 6 blocked shots.
Salem State led 41-26 with 15:44 remaining in the game, but Bridgewater State went on a 15-4 run to make the score 45-41 with 9:43 left. BSC tied the game at 47-47 on a lay-up by sophomore Michaela Johnson (Riverside, RI) at 6:26.
After both teams combined to take the lead and tie the game nine times over the next 4 ½ minutes, BSC finally took the lead (55-54) for good on a free throw by Colleen Feeney with 1:32 remaining. That would be the final point of the game as neither team would score the rest of the way. Salem had opportunities to take the lead in the last minute of play, but turned the ball over three times thanks to steals by Farroba, Caitlin Feeney and senior guard Melissa Murphy (Rockland, MA).
Both teams will play one o'clock league games on Saturday as they end the first-half of their MASAC schedule. Bridgewater State will take on Fitchburg State on the road while Salem State will host Worcester State.