BRIDGEWATER, Mass.—UMass Boston women's basketball used a 10-0 run in overtime, to secure their program-record sixth-straight win to open the season Thursday night at Geissler Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 84, Bridgewater State University 80 (OT)
(UMass Boston 6-0, Little East 0-0)
(Bridgewater State 2-4, MASCAC 0-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 76-73 with 3:07 to go in overtime, sophomore Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) and junior Katrina Edwards (Springfield, Mass.) combined to score the next 10 points, to help UMass Boston tie the program-record for longest winning streak and set a new mark for the best start to a season.
Geary, Edwards and senior Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) all had huge games for UMass Boston, in their final game before conference play.
Murphy overcame a slow first half (five points and three rebounds), to finish with a season-high 28 points. The senior forward also chipped in with 15 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
Edwards had a double-double of her own, as the junior set new career-highs with 17 rebounds, to go along with her 14 points, for her second double-double in three games.
Finally, Geary added 19 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals off the bench. Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) was the final Beacon to finish in double-figures, as she added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Bridgewater State had four double-digit scorers of their own in the loss, led by double-doubles from Chanelle Melton (18 points and 11 rebounds) and Vanessa Conceicao (13 points and 10 assists).
Bridgewater State held the better end of the play in the first half, as they took advantage of 14 Beacon turnovers to earn a 30-27 halftime lead. Tonight's game marked the first time all season UMass Boston had trailed at break.
Murphy and the Beacons came out red-hot to start the third quarter, as they used an 18-10 run to grab a 45-40 lead at the 4:15 mark. Murphy did the brunt of the damage, as she knocked down six shots (12 points) during the span, while Burston and Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn) added 3-pointers.
Bridgewater wouldn't go away though, as the two teams traded leads and ties throughout the end of the third quarter and the entire fourth stanza.
Trailing by one with under a minute to play, Geary momentarily gave the Beacons the lead back (70-69) with a lay-up. Seconds later, Edwards knocked down one of two free throws to give the Beacons a 71-69 lead, but Sara Dasilva tied the contest at 71-71 with a lay-up of her own with 18 seconds left. Bridgewater had one last chance to win it in regulation, but Conceicao's last-second chance layup fell off the iron.
Murphy opened overtime with her 27th and 28th points of the contest, only to have the Bears answer with a 5-0 run.
That's when Edwards and Geary took over. Edwards opened the Beacons' 10-0 run with a layup and Geary quickly followed with a layup and two free throws. After a steal by Geary, Edwards tacked on another layup and Geary closed the run with a baseline jumper to give UMass Boston an 83-76 lead with 32 seconds left.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The two teams teams combined for 16 lead changes and eight ties.
- UMass Boston's six-straight winning streak is tied for the longest in program history with similar streaks by the 2002-03, 2010-11 and 2014-15 teams.
- The Beacons earned a 61-41 advantage on the boards and 27-14 edge in bench points.
- After turning the ball over 14 times in the first half, UMass Boston ended the game with 22 total turnovers.
- UMass Boston shot a season-high 44.3 percent from the field (31-of-70) and knocked down a season-high seven 3-pointers.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will look to carry their success over to conference play, as they open their Little East schedule Saturday against Western Connecticut State University at 1 p.m.