NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Junior guard Vanesa Conceicao (New Bedford, Mass.) scored a career-high 19 points and senior forwardMegan Boutilette (Charlton, Mass.) tallied 14 points including the 1,000th of her career to lead the visiting Bridgewater State University women's basketball team to a 68-42 MASCAC victory over MCLA on Thursday evening.
The game marked the conference opener for both teams as the Bears improve to 7-5 (1-0 MASCAC) on the season while the host Trailblazers slip to 6-6 (0-1 MASCAC).
Boutilette notched her milestone basket (video clip on facebook) on a layup with 3:02 remaining in the contest which gave the Bears a commanding 66-40 advantage at the time.
BSU broke open a close game in the opening minutes of the second half. The Bears led 31-24 at the break and MCLA scored the first basket to pull to within five, which was the closest the Trailblazers would get. Bridgewater would use a 13-3 run to seize control of the game and take a 44-29 lead on Conceicao's layup. The Bears would extend the margin to 20 at 55-35 on a Boutilette layup and cruised home from there.
Defense ruled the opening half as Bridgewater forced 17 turnovers and held MCLA to just 19 field goal attempts. The early pressure allowed the Bears to jump out to a 14-8 lead midway thru the period. MCLA would chip away and eventually tie it up at 22-22 on sophomore forward Kayla Hotaling's (Ravena, N.Y.) three-point play with 3:15 left until halftime. The Bears responded by going on a 9-2 closing run, capped by a three-pointer by senior guard Rachel Kusz (Worcester, Mass.) at the buzzer to give the visitors a 31-24 halftime lead.
MCLA shot 53% in the half, however they only attempted the 19 shots. BSU ended the first half shooting 44% on 32 attempts.
The Trailblazers were done in by 32 turnovers compared to just 13 for the Bears. Bridgewater held a dominating 33-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
Conceicao finished 8-15 from the floor and added three assists and three steals. Boutilette went 7-15 from the field while adding a game-high ten rebounds to finish with a double-double. She also recorded four assists and a season-high six steals. Sophomore forward Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points and three assists.
MCLA was paced by Hotaling's 13 points on 6-6 shooting. She also added five rebounds and three blocks and was the lone Trailblazer in double-figure scoring.
The MASCAC schedule resumes for both teams on Saturday. The Bears travel to Westfield State University to take on the Owls at one, while the Trailblazers entertain Worcester State University also at one.
Notes: Boutilette (1,001 pts.) became the 18th player in BSU women's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point milestone...Boutilette also increased her career rebounding total to 767 as she needs just 13 boards to tie and 14 to break BSU Hall of Famer Lynn Malkasian's (1986-89) all-time mark of 780.