By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Senior Day turned out to be an extra special occasion for Bridgewater State University women's basketball guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.).
The graduate student, playing her final regular-season home game, joined the BSU's 1,000-point club during the first quarter of a 95-51 victory over Fitchburg State University at the Tinsley Center on Saturday afternoon.
Bradbury reached the milestone with her third 3-pointer of the day just 3:52 into the game, connecting from the right side. Bradbury needed nine points to become the program's 21st 1,000-point scorer and had made 3-pointers with 8:15 and 7:38 remaining in the opening quarter.
Playing her 95th career game, Bradbury was honored prior to tipoff with seniors Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) and Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.).
She finished with a game-high 18 points, making six 3-pointers, and has 1,009 career points for 19th place on the program's all-time list.
"It was electric," said Bradbury of the Senior Day atmosphere surrounding her 1,000th point. "I was so emotional. I was focused on getting the win, focused on defense but at the same time I had this pressure to hit that. It feels so good to finally get that.
"People kept saying, 'Oh, I'm sure you'll get it in the first quarter.' I didn't know. Them, boom, boom, boom, just like that, it happeened. It's awesome. I feel like I'm part of history here now. It's great."
This marks the second time this season that a BSU player has surpassed 1,000 points. Junior Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) achieved that feat during a Jan. 10 win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, also doing so in the first quarter at home.
"We were joking the game plan was, 'You're getting three shots and that's it,'" said head coach Bridgett Casey. "For her to get that home on Senior Day is special."
The first-place Bears (10-1) maintained a one-half game lead over Framingham State University (9-1) in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference. BSU has won three straight games since losing in the final seconds to the Rams on Jan. 31.
The Bears' final game is at Westfield State on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. while Framingham State plays at Worcester State that night and hosts Fitchburg State next Saturday afternoon.
During the current three-game winning streak since losing at Framingham State, BSU has outscored its opponents, 231-114.
"Defensively is where it's at for us," said Casey. "We've got to keep it going.
"But 100 percent, I love where we're at right now. Someitimes teams are not going in the right direction, but we're right where we need to be."
Joining Bradbury in double figures were Gaucher with 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting, plus a career-high 14 rebounds and four steals. It was her third double-double of the season.
Grassi scored 14 points with five assists, four rebounds and three steals. The junior moved into seventh place on the all-time scoring list with 1,153 points, just ahead of BSU Hall of Famer Cathy Baker (1,152 points).
Emily Quinn (Lancaster, Mass.) added a career-high 13 points with four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. Her previous top scoring game was 11 against Wheaton College.
Tripp had nine points and six assists while Cleveland contributed eight points and six rebounds with two steals.
For Bradbury, Gaucher and Tripp it was a perfect ending to their regular-season home careers. The next time they will play at the Tinsley Center will be in the MASCAC tournament later this month.
"So many things went right, went perfect for us, right down to the end," said Casey. "Soph got a double-double, Syd got her 1,000th and Tripp hit two free throws and a 3-point shot at the end.
"All their hard work over the years, it was nice to see it all pay off. We're not done yet. We've got things to do. For them, it's the start of the end, but there are bigger goals right now.
"Those three were here through COVID, not being able to practice, then practicing with a mask on and then some games were canceled or delayed, then falling short of a championship at Framingham one year and last year roaring back in the championship game to win it like we did."
BSU (14-10 overall) bolted to a 15-0 lead with 6:34 remaining in the first quarter against Fitchburg State (5-18, 2-8).
The Falcons missed their first five shots and had four turnovers before Rylie Harlow (Hanson, Mass.) got Fitchburg State on the board with 6:20 to go in the quarter.
Bradbury followed that with her 3-pointer from the right for 1,000 points, putting the Bears in front, 18-2.
The lead reached 20 for the first time at 25-5 on a layup by Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) with 2:52 remaining in the quarter and Eryn Rice (Medway, Mass.) made it 27-5 with a layup.
Fitchburg State was limited to 17 percent shooting (3-for-18) in the opening quarter while the Bears made 48 percent of their shots.
BSU held a 50-26 lead at halftime with the advantage never going below 19 points in the second quarter.
Gaucher scored eight of her points in the quarter while Grassi and Quinn added five each.
Fitchburg State shot only 29 percent and had 18 turnovers that BSU turned into 22 points in the first half.
The Bears outscored the Falcons, 25-6, in the third quarter to open a 75-32 lead and the reserves got plenty of playing time throughout the second half.
Bradbury is now tied for second at BSU with 65 3-pointers in a season, even with Rachel Kusz (2014-15) and trailing Hannah Dziadyk (75 in 2019-20). Bradbury connected on 63 shots from 3-point range last season.
With 187 career 3-pointers, Bradbury ranks second to Jenna Williamson (210 from 2010-14) and is third with 188 career attempts.
Fitchburg State was led by Harlow with 12 points and six rebounds while Mikayler Patch (North Attleboro, Mass.) added 10 points and five rebounds.