BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Senior forward Ashley Coucci (Dartmouth, MA) scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Bridgewater State College Bears to a 75-59 victory over Worcester State College in MASCAC women's basketball action this evening from the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater.
BSC improves to 10-6 overall and 3-1 in the MASCAC. The Bears have won four straight games and five of their last six. Worcester dips to 5-12 on the season and 1-4 in conference play.
Coucci connected on 6 of 9 field goal attempts and five of her team high nine boards came off the offensive glass. She also blocked two shots.
The contest was tight throughout the first half with eight ties. The final tie came with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening stanza with the score knotted at 26-26. Sophomore guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) knocked down a pair of free throws to give BSC a 28-26 lead. The Bears would never trail again the rest of the way.
BSC took a 37-33 lead into the intermission and opened the second half by outscoring the Lancers 14-7 over the first five minutes to jump ahead by 11 points (51-40). Worcester was able to pull to within six (57-51), but that would be as close as they would get as Bridgewater responded with a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach. The Bears got up by as many as 18 points in the second half before settling for the 75-59 win.
Cuddihy finished with 14 points and four assists to go along with a season-high eight rebounds. Freshman forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) chipped in with 11 points and six boards, while sophomore forward Carolyn Swanson (Stoughton, MA) added 10 points and six rebounds.
Bridgewater shot 47% (29-for-62) from the floor and out-rebounded the Lancers by the narrow margin of 43-41. After grabbing just three offensive boards in the first half, the Bears pulled down eight rebounds off the offensive glass in the final stanza.
Freshman guard Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way for the Lancers. Sophomore guard Alexis George (Worcester, MA) finished with 14 points and eight boards, while senior guard Erin McCullough (Harvard, MA) added 10 points and four assists.
After shooting 40% from the floor in the first half, Worcester connected on just 10 of 36 (28%) field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes.
The MASCAC schedule resumes for Bridgewater on Saturday as the Bears travel to Salem State College to take on the Lady Vikings at 1 PM. Worcester is off until next Tuesday as they play host to those same Lady Vikings at 6 PM.