BRIDGEWATER, MA --- Senior forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) and sophomore guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, Mass.) each scored 19 points to lead the Bridgewater State Bears to a 63-56 victory over the Worcester State Lancers in MASCAC women's basketball action this afternoon at the Tinsley Center.
With the win the Bears (16-6, 9-1 MASCAC) capture their fifth MASCAC regular-season championship and third in the last five seasons. Bridgewater also avenged their only conference loss of the season. The Lancers drop to 11-13 overall and 5-6 in the conference standings.
DePina added nine rebounds and four blocked shots for the hosts while Williamson pulled down six boards. With her 19 points, DePina increased her career total to 1,066 as she moved past Lora O'Connell (1,051 points) into ninth place on the Bears' all-time scoring list.
Junior forward Michaela Cosby (Walpole, MA) chipped in with 13 points, six caroms and five assists, while sophomore forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, MA) came off the bench to notch seven points, a team-high 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Second-year guard Meaghan Burns (East Brookfield, Mass.) paced the visitors scoring 12 of her 16 points in the second half while freshman guard Cheyenne Jennings (Worcester, Mass.) notched 10 points and three assists. Junior center Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) also chipped in with eight points and seven boards and senior guard Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) added seven points and nine rebounds.
Trailing 8-5 at the 15:59 mark of the first half, Bridgewater State used a 16-0 run to take the 21-8 advantage a little less than 5½ minutes later as the spurt included trey's by DePina, Williamson and senior guard Ciara Shaughnessy (Lowell, Mass).
Worcester State rallied with a quick 8-0 surge of their own to cut the deficit to 21-16 with 8:13 on the clock, but the Bears would end the first period by doubling up and outscoring the visitors, 14-7, for the 35-23 edge at the intermission.
Coming out of the locker room, Bridgewater State ballooned their advantage to 20 points early on in the second on (47-27). Blue and Gold then whittled away the deficit to 13 on two occasions to trail 54-41 with 9:09 remaining.
As the Bears led 58-41 with 6:31 left in regulation, Worcester State forced five straight BSU miscues to make it a 58-50 contest at the 1:47 mark, with nine straight points.
After the hosts sank three of their next four attempts at the free throw line to make it an 11 point game, the Lancers trimmed the lead to 61-54 on consecutive lay-ups by Jennings and senior Molly Hein (Hudson, NH).
The Bears then turned the ball over before with 30 ticks remaining, but Worcester State could not take advantage of the opportunity as Boutilette recorded a block in the clutch and the Blue and Gold missed a three-pointer.
Williamson then canned two from the line with 16 seconds left and a last-second shot by WSU freshman Kelli McPherson (Mansfield, Mass.) marked the final score of the contest.
Bridgewater State finished shooting 40 percent for the game (23-for-57) and made 72 percent of their free throws (13-for-18). BSU also led in points off turnovers (20-14) and distributed the ball well finishing with 17 assists on 23 made field goals.
Worcester State led in total rebounds (45-40), offensive caroms (18-11) and second chance points (14-12) as they were 34 percent from the field for the contest and only connected for four of their 12 attempts from three-point land for the game.
Prior to the game, the Bears held their Senior Day festivities, honoring DePina, Shaughnessy and classmate Monica-Sabina Bharoocha (North Smithfield, R.I.). The game also marked a Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Pink Zone event as part of the WBCA's effort for breast cancer awareness.
Both squads will entertain Salem State in the next week. Bridgewater State heads to Salem on Tuesday for a 5:30 showdown, while the Lancers will close out their regular season with the Vikings on Saturday afternoon.