SALEM, Mass -- Senior Danielle Jenkins (Marlborough, MA) scored a game-high 24 points in her final regular season home game to lead the Lady Vikings to an impressive 78-60 victory over league-leader Bridgewater State Tuesday night at Twohig Gymnasium.
Jenkins, who ranks second all-time in career scoring at Salem
State, shook off an 0-5 start from the field, and scored 17 of her
points in the second half, as the Lady Vikings turned a close game
into a rout.
Salem State used the game to promote the The WBCA Pink Zone, which
is a unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches
Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast
cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and
beyond.
The win improved SSC to 17-7 overall and 8-3 in Masachusetts
State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play. The Bears
fell to 13-10 on the season and 9-2 in the MASCAC.
Salem State can tie for the league crown and the top seed in the
MASCAC Tournament if it beats Worcester State on Saturday and BSC
loses to MCLA. A Bridgewater State victory over MCLA or a
Salem loss to Worcester would give the Bears the MASCAC regular
season title outright.
Salem State's six-point halftime lead was whittled to three, 43-40,
after Michaela Cosby's (Walpole, MA) basket with
just over 14 minutes remaining. Jenkins took things into her own
hands, scoring five straight points - including a rebound follow of
a missed Jakoya Wilkins' (Dorchester, MA) free
throw, and SSC had its largest lead at that point, 48-40.
A conventional three-point play and two additional free throws by
Whitney Wilson (Lowell, MA) gave the Lady Vikings
their first double-digit lead, 53-42, and Jenkins added two more
buckets to give SSC a comfortable 57-44 advantage. Salem State
would eventually increase its lead to 20, 70-50, and cruised home
to the win.
Jenkins was given a standing ovation when coach Tim
Shea removed her after scoring her final points of the
night. She finished 9-20 from the field, and added a game-high 15
rebounds to complete the dominant performance.
Freshman Brianna Wilson (Lowell, MA) had a solid
game, scoring 18 points on 9-14 shooting. She added seven rebounds
and tied for team-high honors with four assists. Erica
Batchelder (Stoughton, MA), another freshman, had 14
points, as she connected on 4-6 from beyond the arc.
Bridgewater Stae was led by Michaela Johnson
(Riverside, RI), who had 14 points, and Shelly
DePina (New Bedford, MA), who posted a double-double
with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lady Vikings controlled the boards, 48-39, and held the Bears
to just 36% shooting (25-70).
The first half was a back-and-forth battle featuring 11 lead
changes. Salem State used a 5-0 run on the strength of four Jenkins
free throws to take a 19-15 lead midway through the period. The
Bears roared back, scoring the next nine points to claim their
biggest advantage of the half, 24-19. DePina had a hoop and two
free throws, and Monica-Sabina Bharoocha (North Smithfield, RI)
converted consecutive buckets to lead the charge.
The Lady Vikings fought back, ripping off an 8-0 run to grab 27-24 advantage, and Batchelder drilled her third three-pointer of the half just before intermission to propel Salem State to a 36-30 lead heading into the locker room.