By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- After struggling through its non-conference schedule, the Bridgewater State University women’s basketball team was eyeing a fresh start on Saturday afternoon.
The opener of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference season offered the Bears a chance to turn the page after going 3-8.
That didn’t happen, however, as BSU dropped its MASCAC opener for the first time since 2011.
The Bears got off to a slow start and never recovered, falling to Framingham State University, 59-42, at the Tinsley Center.
BSU made only 16 of 62 shots, including 3-for-24 from 3-point range, and have now scored 42 points or fewer three times this season.
“There’s been games where we’ve struggled offensively,’’ said coach Bridgett Casey, whose team is below .500 in the MASCAC for the first time in five years. “There’s been a couple of games where we’ve been consistent at the offensive end, spreading the ball around.
“Framingham is a great team. To hold a team like that to 59 points, I’ll take that. But we were rushing shots offensively, we didn’t finish, we didn’t take our shots.’’
The Bears fell behind, 17-7, after one quarter when they were 3-for-16 from the field and faced a 29-13 deficit at halftime when they were 5-for-28.
BSU got as close as 11 (42-31) late in the third quarter, but the Rams (9-4, 2-0) upped the margin to 59-42 going into the final 10 minutes to brush aside the comeback bid.
Freshman Sara DaSilva led the Bears with 13 points while junior Jennie Lindland added 11 points and six rebounds.
The offense, though, could never get going, and BSU made just 26 percent of its shots.
“We don’t have that 20-point scorer, that go-to person,’’ said Casey, who lose three starters to graduation. “For us, it’s pass the ball around, give everybody a piece of the offense, but nobody shot the ball well.
“We made a couple of good runs in the second half, but we had a non-defensive stop and it was right back to chasing 17 or 18 down again.’’
BSU, which has just two seniors on the roster, will look to improve on its 3-9 record on Wednesday at Fitchburg State.
“We’re young in that we lost three starters, but we’re halfway in now,’’ said Casey. “We should be at a point where we’re a little bit more comfortable.
“We’ve been trying starting lineups. We’re looking for someone to take command.’’