Bridgewater State Edges Fitchburg State, 65-60

Fahey and Payne notch double-doubles in Falcons MASCAC loss to Bears

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (January 30, 2014) – The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team withstood a furious second half rally as the Bears edged MASCAC rival Fitchburg State University, 65-60, on Thursday evening at the Tinsley Center.

The Bears improve to 10-9 on the season with the win and 4-2 in the MASCAC, while the Falcons slip to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

Senior guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, Mass.) paced the hosts with her second straight double-double as she notched 16 points and ten rebounds. Senior guard Elisha Homich (Ludlow, Mass.) added a team-best 18 points to go along with three rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.

Bridgewater used a 10-1 run to open up a double-digit advantage late in the first half as the Bears held a 36-23 lead at the break.  Williamson scored all 16 of her points in the opening stanza, while the Bears held the Falcons to 33% (10-30) shooting and forced 12 turnovers over the first twenty minutes.

The Bears carried that momentum into the second half outscoring the Falcons by a margin of 19-8 over the first 7 ½ minutes to open up a 24-poind lead (55-31). Bridgewater, however, would struggle mightily from that point on scoring just ten points the rest of the way.

The Falcons chipped away at the lead using runs of 11-0 and 15-1 to make it a three-point game (63-60) with just 15 seconds remaining in the game.  A pair of Britney Payne (Franklin, KY) free throws capped of the 15-1 run. 

Fitchburg State was forced to foul following Payne's free throws and sent BSU sophomore guard Vanesa Conceicao (New Bedford, Mass.) to the charity stripe shooting one-on-one with just six seconds on the clock.  Conceicao calmly sank both free throws as the Bears would escape with the win.

In the second half, it was the Falcons who forced the Bears into mistakes.  Bridgewater turned the ball over 15 times in the final stanza which led directly to 16 Fitchburg points.  The Bears also hurt themselves at the free throw line making just 2 of 8 free throw attempts in the half before Conceicao buried her two at the end.

Senior forward Amy Fahey (Wilmington, Mass.) led the way for the Falcons as she posted a double-double with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds.  Payne also finished with a double-double scoring 16 points and pulling down ten boards.

Fitchburg State will be back in action on Saturday as it hosts Salem State at 1  p.m.