BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Sophomore guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) poured in 28 points to lead the Bridgewater State College women's basketball team to an 83-65 victory over Western New England College this evening from the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
With the win, the Bears improve to 6-5 on the season while WNEC dips to 4-7.
Cuddihy connected on 10 of 13 field goal attempts including 5 of 7 from behind the arc. She was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point land in the second half and also finished the game with four assists.
Bridgewater got off to a slow start as they watched the Golden Bears jump out to an 11-0 lead through the first five minutes of play. BSC trailed 16-6 with 12:41 left on the clock when Cuddihy reeled off nine straight points to cut the deficit to 16-15. Freshman guard Stephanie Houtman (New Bedford, MA) then knocked home a short-range jumper to give the Bears their first lead of the game (18-17) at the 7:25 mark.
With the score tied at 22-22, Bridgewater would close out the opening stanza on a 14-4 run as the Bears took a 36-26 lead into the intermission.
BSC notched the first six points of the second half to go up 42-26. WNEC would close the gap to seven points on two occasions and trailed 49-41 midway through the final stanza. The Bears then put the game away with a 12-2 run highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Cuddihy as well as six points from freshman forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA). A three-pointer by freshman forward Ciara Shaughnessy (Lowell, MA) later in the period would give the Bears their biggest lead of the game at 66-45.
DePina finished with 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting. She also pulled down eight rebounds and recorded four steals. Houtman added 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. Senior forward Ashley Coucci (Dartmouth, MA) came off the bench to grab a team-high nine boards with three coming off the offensive glass.
WNEC had four players finish in double figures led by senior guard Katie Arey (Enfield, NH) and sophomore guard Taryn Belowsky (New Haven, CT) who scored 15 points apiece. They each also pulled down seven rebounds. Junior guard Kailah Al-Darraji (Dover, NH) added 12 points and freshman forward Sarah Proper (Coxsackie, NY) chipped in with 11.
Bridgewater shot 47% from the floor for the game including 52% shooting (16-for-31) in the second half. The Bears connected on 8 of 19 three-point attempts led by Cuddihy's 5-for-7 performance from behind the arc. BSC out-rebounded the Golden Bears by a margin of 45-38 marking the first time this season that the Bears held the advantage on the boards.
The Bears open their conference schedule on Saturday as they host MASCAC rival Westfield State College at 1 PM. WNEC also has its' conference opener on Saturday at 1 as the Golden Bears travel to Curry College to take on the Colonels.