SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The Bridgewater State College women's basketball team dropped a 70-63 decision to Capital University on Sunday afternoon in the opening game of the 2009 Surf 'N Slam San Diego Hoop Classic hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University.
Bridgewater State (3-5) will play again on Tuesday at 8:00 PM (EST) against the winner of the Simpson College/Point Loma game.
Sophomore forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) paced the Bears with 12 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Brittney Chappron (Braintree, MA) added 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Bridgewater got off to a slow starting scoring just two points over the first nine minutes of the contest. The Bears trailed 14-2, but were able to keep the deficit under ten points throughout the remainder of the first half. BSC was down 33-26 at the intermission.
After Capital (7-1) scored the first basket of the second half, Bridgewater State went on a 12-2 run over the next six minutes to take their first lead of the game (38-37) with 13:09 left to play. The game would go back and forth with nine lead changes and five ties until the 7:01 mark when Capital took the lead for good on a lay-up by senior forward Caitlin Elsass (Batavia, OH). Elsass' bucket was part of a 12-4 Crusader run. Capital went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 31 seconds to secure the win.
Elsass led all scorers with 19 points. She also added three rebounds and four steals. Senior guard Kristen Richardson (Oxford, OH) came off the bench to score 15 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Capital shot 50% from the floor (25-for-50) and converted 18 of 27 free throw attempts. Bridgewater was 12 of 14 from the charity stripe but struggled with their long-range shooting, connecting on just 5 of 21 three-point attempts.