BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Junior guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) notched 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Bridgewater State College women's basketball team wrapped up the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) regular season title with a 62-57 victory over MCLA this afternoon in Bridgewater.
The MASCAC title is the program's second in the last three years and fourth overall. The Bears (14-10, 10-2 MASCAC) are the top seed for the conference tournament which gets underway on Tuesday. Bridgewater has a first round by and will host the semifinals and championship game next Friday and Saturday. MCLA (15-9, 4-8 MASCAC) is the fourth seed and will host fifth-seeded Framingham State on Tuesday night at 5:30 PM.
Sophomore forward Monica-Sabina Bharoocha (North Smithfield, RI) was a key spark off the bench for the Bears as she finished with 11 points to go along with a pair of steals.
Bridgewater State overcame a poor shooting performance by forcing 30 MCLA turnovers which led to 35 points. The Bears, in fact, held a 35-5 advantage in points off turnovers. BSC shot 35% (21-for-60) from the field and just 61% (14-for-23) at the free throw line. Bridgewater entered the game leading the MASCAC with a .732 free throw shooting percentage.
Senior forward Jade Prickett (Westhampton, MA) paced four Trailblazers in double-figure scoring as she finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Sophomore center Jen Wehner (Cooperstown, NY) added 13 points, nine boards and three assists, while freshman guard Lucy Tremblay (East Greenbush, NY) tallied 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Junior guard Molly Broda (Southampton, MA) chipped in with 11 points as she was 3-for-6 from behind the arc.
MCLA led by two (26-24) at the half and began the second half with an 8-1 run to open up their biggest lead of the game at 34-25 with 16:24 remaining. Down seven (44-37) with 11:24 left on the clock, Bridgewater scored six straight points, capped of by a Heather McPherson (Mansfield, MA) three-pointer, to pull to within one.
There would be two ties and five lead changes over the next four minutes until a Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) free throw followed by a Michaela Cosby (Walpole, MA) steal and a Michaela Johnson (Riverside, RI) jumper gave BSC a four-point advantage (55-51) with 2:06 remaining.
Broda responded with a three-pointer, but the Trailblazers were unable to capitalize on an ensuing BSC turnover. DePina then knocked in a layup off an offensive rebound and Cosby stole the ensuing inbounds pass with 22 seconds left. Cuddihy connected on 1 of 2 free throws and Johnson knocked in two more after MCLA committed their 30th turnover of the game. Down six (60-54), Tremblay drained a late three-pointer with just four second remaining. Cosby then put the finishing touches on the Bears' victory as she calmly sank a pair of free throws with one second to go.
DePina finished with eight points and six points for Bridgewater. Prior to the game, the Bears honored Johnson and fellow senior Lecia DiPietro (Narragansett, RI) who were playing in their final regular season home game. Johnson tallied six points, three boards, two assists and a steal.