FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State College women's basketball team had five players score in double figures as they cruised to a 76-58 win over the Framingham State Rams at Framingham's Athletic Center on Tuesday night.
With the win the Bears improve to 7-6 on the season and 1-1 in Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action. The Rams slip below .500 at 6-7 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Bridgewater State received a strong effort from their bench in the game as Bears outscored the Rams bench by a margin of 42-3. In the first half the BSC bench outscored the Rams bench, 18-3, en route to a 33-18 half time lead which they would not relinquish in the second half. Bridgewater led by as many as 21 points in the opening stanza before a 8-2 run by Framingham to end the half cut the deficit to 15 points.
Trailing 41-27 with 15 minutes remaining in the second half, Framingham put together a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to pull to within six points at 43-37. That would be as close as the Rams would get as the Bears had the edge in play the rest of the way.
Forwards Carolyn Swanson (Stoughton, MA) and Monica-Sabina Bharoocha (North Smithfield, RI) led the Bears off the bench. Swanson scored a game high 13 points to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks, while Bharoocha added 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor to go along with five boards. Freshman guard Ciara Shaughnessy (Lowell, MA) added 10 points off the bench as well, connecting on 3 of 6 three-point attempts.
Freshman forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) posted her second straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Nine of her game-high 11 rebounds came off the offensive glass. Sophomore guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) also chipped in with 10 points.
Bridgewater dominated the boards for most of the game, out-rebounding the Rams by a margin of 55-30 with a 22-10 edge in offensive rebounds.
The Rams were led the sophomore Jill Johnson who notched her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists and three steals. Guards Allie Hart (Somerset, MA) and Nicole McConaghy (Medford, MA) chipped in 12 points apiece.
The Rams return to action on Thursday as they travel to Simmons at 7 PM. The Bears also return to action on Thursday at UMass Boston. Tip-off is at 5:30 PM.