BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior Rhiana Page (Brookline, Mass.) scored a career-high 20 points and junior Sara DaSilva (Chelmsford, Mass.) added 16 to lead the Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a 73-44 victory over visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology on Thursday evening at the Tinsley Center.
With the win the Bears improve to 2-7 while the Leopards fall to 1-9.
Wentworth had an early, 5-4 lead in the opening quarter before Bridgewater State used a 10-0 run to open up a 14-5 lead. Sophomore forward Kayla Carter (Beverly, Mass.) scored the last six points of the run on three baseline jumpers. The Bears would ultimately hold a 20-13 advantage at the end of one.
Three straight layups, one by junior Olivia DelGrosso (Ledyard, Conn.) and two from freshman Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.), extended the Bridgewater State lead to 26-13 early in the second quarter and the Bears would maintain a double-digit advantage for the rest of the game.
An 11-2 run to close out the second quarter gave the Bears a 47-23 lead at the break. DaSilva tallied seven points during the spurt including a three-pointer. The Bears continued to pull away in the second half as they led 64-31 at the end of three and led by as many as 38 points (69-31) in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Stephanie Mini (Topsfield, Mass.) paced Wentworth with seven first-half points. The Leopards shot just 30 percent (7-for-23) from the floor over the first 20 minutes, however, connected on 40 percent (4-for-10) of their three pointers.
Sophomore Emily Magasic (West Milford, N.J.) was the only Wentworth player to finish in double-figures as she netted 11 points in 12 minutes off the bench, including going 5-for-5 from the line.
Page connected on 9 of 11 field goals and was a perfect 2-for-2 at the free throw line. She also added five rebounds, a blocked shot and two steals. DaSilva was 7-for-15 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers, and contributed three boards, a pair of assists, a block and a game-high four steals. Senior Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' double-digit point producers. Melton notched 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting and added four rebounds and two steals.
Bridgewater held a 41-19 rebounding advantage (12-4 offensive) and shot 54 percent (30-for-56) from the floor for the game.
Wentworth returns to action on Thursday, January 4 at 5:30 p.m. when the Leopards travel to Roger Williams University for a Commonwealth Coach Conference game with the Hawks.
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