WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, Mass.) matched her season-high with 29 points to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a 63-48 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) win over Worcester State University on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears even their overall record at 8-8 with the win and improve to 3-1 in the MASCAC. The host Lancers slip to 6-7 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.
Williamson connected on 10 of 17 field goal attempts including 2-for-5 from the three-point range. She tied former Bear Corey Cuddihy's all-time program mark for made three-pointers with 180 Williamson also finished 7-for-8 from the free throw line and added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
With her 29 points, Williamson moved into fourth place on the Bears' career scoring list as she now has 1,173 points in four seasons at Bridgewater State. She moved past BSU Hall of Famer Cathy Baker (1,152 pts.) and former teammate Shelly DePina (1,162 pts.) on the all-time list.
Junior guard Rachel Kusz (Worcester, Mass.) added 11 points for the Bears on 3 of 6 shooting from behind the arc. Senior guard Elisha Homich (Worcester, Mass.) led all players with six assists while also grabbing seven rebounds.
Senior guard Meaghan Burns (West Brookfield, Mass.) paced Worcester State with 14 points and four rebounds, while sophomore guard Julie Frankian (Millbury, Mass.) added eight points and five boards.
Trailing by one (19-18) with less than seven minutes remaining in the first half, the Bears used a 10-0 run highlighted by six points from Williamson to jump ahead 28-19. Bridgewater would take a 36-28 lead into the break.
A Burns jumper early in the second half pulled Worcester to within four (38-34). That would be as close as the Lancers would get the rest of the way. A 10-2 BSU run midway through the stanza would put the game out of reach as the Bears built a double-digit advantage that they would not relinquish.
BSU sophomore guard Vanesa Conceicao (New Bedford, Mass.) drained a three-pointer with 5:36 remaining to give the Bears their biggest lead of the game at 63-45. Bridgewater would not score again, but the Lancer did not take advantage of the opportunity tallying just three points over the final seven minutes of the contest.
Both teams struggled with their shooting as the Bears shot 34% (20-59) from the floor, including 7-for-29 (24%) from three-point range, while the Lancers connected on just 30% (16-53) of their field goal attempts.
Bridgewater, however, converted on 16 of 20 (80%) free throw attempts and held 33-16 advantage in points off turnovers and a 24-14 edge in points in the paint. Worcester finished 14-for-18 (78%) from the charity stripe.
The MASCAC schedule resumes for both teams on Tuesday evening. The Bears entertain Fitchburg State University at 5:30 while the Lancers travel to Westfield State University to take on the Owls also at 5:30.