BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored a double-double with a game high 18 points and 10 rebounds as the second-seeded Bridgewater State University posted a 84-71 victory over #3 Westfield State University in the semifinal round of the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday evening at the Tinsley Center.
With the win, the Bears (20-7) advance to the MASCAC Tournament Championship Game for the first time since 2015 and for the seventh time in the last 15 years. BSU will travel to top-seeded Framingham State University on Saturday afternoon to take on the Rams at 1 o'clock. Framingham State earned an 81-63 win over #4 Worcester State University in the other semifinal match-up on Thursday.
Westfield State's season comes to a close with a 15-12 overall record.
Bradbury connected on 6-12 from the field while going 4-6 from behind the arc. She also converted both of her free throw attempts and completed the game with three assists and a steal.
Five other Bears recorded double-digit points in the win. Sophomore guard Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) tallied 10 points, two rebounds, seven assists and a game-high five steals, while freshman guard Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) connected 5-13 from the field and one free throw attempt for 13 points, three boards and two assists. Senior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) scored 10 points to go along with nine rebounds and one assist and senior guard Hannah Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) put in 5-9 from the field, four of which were from three, to finish the night with 14 points, two rebounds, and three assists. Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.) checked in off the bench with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Senior guard Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) paced the Owls with 14 points along with five boards and 2 assists while senior forward Paris Wilkey (Lynn, Mass.) checked in with a team-high 15 points off the bench.
The Bears used a 16-6 run in the first quarter sparked by a jumper from Grassi to get out to a 27-13 lead by the end of the first. The Bears continued their first quarter dominance into the second by taking a commanding 49-25 lead into the break, outscoring the Owls 22-12 in the second quarter. Of the 49 points, Grassi accounted for 13 while Bradbury tallied 10 in the first half. Shooting percentage was the story in the opening half with a decisive 55.6% from the field for the Bears while the Owls completed just 29% of their shots.
After a BSU three pointer from Bradbury five seconds into the third quarter, Westfield surged back with a 8-0 run to get the score to 60-42 before a pair of Bridgewater free throws. The Owls finished the third on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to just 13 points (64-51) by the end of the third quarter.
The BSU lead did not go below 10 in the fourth quarter as the Bears continued to cruise to the 84-71 victory after both teams notched 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) added 11 points and eight rebounds for Westfield, and Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) scored eight points as well.