BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Behind 19 points from junior guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, Mass.) and 18 points by senior guard Michaela Cosby (Walpole, Mass.), the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team posted a 74-63 non-conference win over visiting Saint Joseph's College on Tuesday night at the Tinsley Center.
The host Bears improve to 18-3 with their sixth straight victory, while the Monks slip to 12-10.
Williamson was 6-for-10 from the floor and connected on 3 of 5 three-pointers. She also was a perfect 4-for-4 at the line and registered four steals. Cosby increased her career scoring total to 981 points as she is looking to become the 15th player in BSU women's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. She also added five rebounds, three assists and four steals.
BSU junior forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with ten points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals, while junior guard Colleen Hanscom (Melrose, Mass.) chipped in with ten points, five boards and four assists.
Freshman center Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) paced the visiting Monks with a game-high 20 points on 9 of 11 shooting. Cahill also finished with six rebounds, a game-high five blocks and four steals. Junior forward Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Maine) added 12 points and seven boards.
Bridgewater got up by as many as 11 points in the first half and a held a 35-28 advantage at the intermission. Williamson scored 12 of her 19 points in the opening stanza while Cosby notched ten first-half points. Cahill led the Monks at the break with 12 points.
BSU's lead ballooned again to 11 points early in the second half and the Bears were up by nine (51-42) with14:51 remaining. A 9-0 run by the Monks, however, quickly erased the deficit. Young scored five points during the run and junior guard Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine) capped it off with a jumper to knot the score at 51-51. Saint Joseph's would take their first lead (57-56) since the opening minutes of the game on a Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) layup with 8:07 left on the clock.
The Bears would turn the momentum of the game as they answered with a 9-0 run of their own capped off by a Williamson trifecta to take a 65-57 lead. Saint Joseph's would get no closer than six points the rest of the way as the Monks scored just six points and turned the ball over six times in the final five minutes.
The Bears shot 43% (26-60) from the floor and converted 18 of 21 (86%) free throw attempts. Aside from Williamson's solid three-point shooting, the rest of the team was just 1-for-8 from behind the arc. The Bears recorded 18 steals in the game and forced 26 turnovers.
The Monks connected on 42% (25-59) of their field goal attempts and were 12-for-13 (92%) from the charity stripe, but finished just 1-for-10 from three-point range.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday afternoon. The Bears head to Worcester State University for a key MASCAC matchup with the Lancers starting at 3:30, while the Monks travel to Albertus Magnus College to take on the Falcons at one.