LEICESTER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University Bears defeated Becker College, 23-3, in New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA) action at Alumni Field in Leicester.

With the win the Hawks drop below .500 to 5-6 (1-3 NEWLA) while the Bears improve to 12-1 and remain in first place in the NEWLA with a perfect 4-0 conference mark.

Sophomore attack Jill Caramello (Duxbury, Mass) and freshman attack Melanie Appleman (Hyannis, Mass.) both had 5 goals and added two assists to lead the Bears with seven points on the day. Senior Jenny Jones (Framingham, Mass.) chipped in with 6 points on five goals and a helper.

With her six points Jones moved past Paula Habel into second place on the Bears' all-time scoring list.  Jones now has 337 points (267 goals, 70 assists) in four season with the Bears while Habel notched 336 points from 2000 to 2003.

The Bears jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and held a 13-2 advantage at the intermission.  The final score of 23-3 was also the largest lead of the game.  Bridgewater outshot becker by a margin of 46-12.

Fifteen different players recorded at least one point in the game for Bridgewater while ten scored at least one goal.  Of the 23 goals, 21 of them were assisted on.

Senior midfielder Courtney Lennon (Medfield, Mass.) added a goal and two assists for the Bears.  With her two helpers, Lennon surpassed the 100-assist milestone as she now has 101 in her career.  Lennon is third all-time at BSU in assists trailing only Shannon Manning (156) and Habel (152).

Senior Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass.) and freshman Victoria Moore (Duxbury, Mass.) combined to make six saves with each BSU netminder turning aside three shots apiece.

Becker's Vanessa Laureano (Dracut, Mass.) had two first half goals and Morgan Hazen (Woodstock, VT) scored on a free position shot in the second half.

Bridgewater travels to Worcester State University next Wednesday night for a NEWLA match with the Lancers at 7.

Notes: The game marked the 100th in the six-year coaching career of Bridgewater State head coach, Erika Smith.  Smith has directed her teams to a record of 69-31 (.690) as she needs four more wins to surpass Josh Hexter as the winningest coach in BSU women's lacrosse history.  Hexter's teams won 72 games (72-42) from 1998 to 2004.