BEVERLY, Mass. -- Bridgewater State College had four players reach double figures including a game-high 22 points from freshman Carolyn Swanson (Stoughton, MA), as the Bears defeated Endicott College, 74-62, in non-conference action on Thursday night in Beverly, Massachusetts.
A back-and-forth first half eventually swayed the visitors way, as Bridgewater State went on a 12-1 run that spanned just under three minutes. The charge was capped off by a Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) three-pointer to put the Bears up, 23-13.
BSC built its largest advantage of the opening frame just moment's later as Swanson picked up the hoop and the foul to extend Bridgewater's lead to 30-16. The visitors would enter the dressing room with a comfortable 10-point halftime cushion, 33-23.
Endicott made an early push out of the gates to start the second half as Paris Sanders (Needham, MA) fought her way to the rim and converted on a strongly contested lay-up to cut the lead to eight. However that is as close as the Gulls would get as Bridgewater raced ahead with a 19-8 run that included a pair of three's from Cuddihy and Melissa Murphy (Rockland, MA), putting the Bears up, 53-23.
The Gulls refused to go quietly and behind the strong play of Ceciley Chisholm (Lexington, MA), Endicott fought its way back into the contest. Chisholm and junior Nicole Duchesne (Plaistow, NH) combined to score 15 of the Endicott's next 17 points to cut the margin back to eight.
Despite the best last-ditch effort from the Blue and Green, the eight point lead proved to be too large for the Gulls to overcome, as they fell to Bridgewater, 74-62.
The Bears were led by the game-high 22 points from Swanson. The freshman was able to get to the free-throw line all night, converting 10-of-15 from the charity stripe. Colleen Feeney (Providence, RI) also had a monster night, as the senior forward had 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season in as many games. Cuddihy and Caitlin Feeney (Providence, RI) each chipped in 16 points in the victory.
Endicott was led by Ceciley Chisholm's 18 points and six rebounds. Nicole Young (Rockland, MA) had 15 points and six boards in the losing effort. The Gulls' leading scorer Duchesne was held to eight points on just 2-of-10 shooting.
With the win, Bridgewater State has now won six straight games to move to 6-1. BSC returns to action on Monday as they will host Mitchell. Endicott falls to 3-3 overall. The Gulls will travel to Emmanuel College on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.