BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Behind a 46% effort from the floor, the Bridgewater Eagles women's basketball team (11-6, 7-5 ODAC) earned a convincing 68-49 victory over the Lynchburg Hornets on Friday evening in Nininger Hall.
Bridgewater took the early lead before Lynchburg (4-13, 3-9 ODAC) returned the favor by taking a 16-11 lead on the Eagles midway through the first half.
Lynchburg built its lead to as many as seven as the Eagles were sloppy from the field before Bridgewater ended the first half on a 21-9 run, sparked by outstanding inside play, to take a seven-point lead at a 32-25 margin at the break.
Junior guard Jessica Mullen paced the way from Bridgewater with nine points in the first half as the Eagles drilled 40% of thier shots over the first 20 minutes.
Out of the halftime intermission, Bridgewater's lead hung around seven at a 36-29 gap before a mini-Eagles run, paced by outstanding inside play from freshman Shannan Thorne, extended Bridgewater's lead to double digits at a 44-33 margin with 15:55 left.
Lynchburg chopped Bridgewater's lead down to within single digits at a 44-37 tally prior to the Eagles ripping off 15 of the game's next 20 points to extend the lead to a 59-42 gap with eight and change to play, effectively putting the game away.
Bridgewater's lead teetered at around 15 for the next two minutes until a Holly Morgan layup and a pair of free throws from the hands of Cat Snead pushed the Eagles lead to a game-high 21 points.
Down the stretch, both teams struggled form the field, while the Eagles maintained a double-digit lead as Bridgewater earned its 11th win of the year by a 68-49 margin over the visiting Hornets.
Mullen paced Bridgewater with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. The Purcellville, Va. native also went 4-for-5 from the charity stripe and dished out a game-high four assists. Thorne helped pace the Bridgewater offense with 14 points on the evening, including eight in the second half.
The Eagles shot at a blistering 54% (13-of-24) from the floor in the second half.
On the glass, Bridgewater controlled play outrebounding the visiting Hornets by a 38-to-34 gap. Snead and Thorne paced the Eagles with six rebounds each.
Lynchburg was paced offensively by an 11-point effort from guard Katie Reeves as the Hornets struggled to a 31% performance from the floor.
On the rebounding end, Caitlin Falls paced the way with five boards.
Bridgewater owned the inside game, outscoring the Hornets by a 28-to-16 gap in the paint while also owning a 24-to-17 edge in points off turnovers.
The Eagles cleaned up their dismal free-throw shooting from Tuesday night by firing the ball at an 81% clip from the charity stripe on the evening.
Bridgewater is back in action on Tuesday night when it travels to Roanoke. Tip time against the Maroons is set for 7:00 p.m.