Bridgewater State Storms Past Salem State 93-42

SALEM, Mass. –- Bridgewater State and Salem State met for the second consecutive night on Thursday evening, this time in Twohig Gymnasium as the Vikings looked to rebound from a 65-62 loss to the Bears a night earlier. Jannise Avelino (Peabody, Mass.) produced a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds for Bridgewater State, which won the game going away, 93-42. The Bears improve to 12-7 and 4-2 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC). The Vikings slide to 3-16 and 1-6 in the league.

Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored 15 points while Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) added 14 points for Bridgewater State. Hannah Moniz (Taunton, Mass.) contributed 10 points off the bench for the visitors,, which shot an efficient 36-for-64 (56.3%) from the field for the game. The Bears connected for nine three pointers, led by 3-of-6 (50.%) shooting from Bradbury.

Irianis Delgado (Lynn, Mass.) topped Salem State with 13 points and nine rebounds. Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.) added 11 points and Kylie Gates (Pembroke, Mass.) added 10 points for the Vikings, who were just 17-of-71 (23.9%) from the floor including 0-of-9 from three-point range.

Grassi posted seven first quarter points as Bridgewater State built a 23-15 advantage. Following a Zaiter make, the Bears held Salem State without a field goal for over two and a half minutes, outscoring the Vikings 8-0 as they increased their lead to 16-4 with 3:47 remaining in the opening period. Trailing 23-12, a three-point play by Gates helped draw Salem State closer as the period ended with the Vikings behind by eight.

The Bears opened up a 21-point lead in the second, using a 16-3 run while limiting the Vikings to just one field goal over the first four minutes of the period.  A Bradbury layup made the score 39-18 in favor of the Bears at the midway point of the second. A Grassi jumper gave Bridgewater State their largest lead of the half, 44-22 before the Bears settled for a 44-24 halftime advantage.

Bradbury led all players with 10 points in the first half on 4-of-5 (80.0%) shooting as Bridgewater State went 16-of-32 (50.0%) from the floor as a team, including 5-for-9 (55.6%) from behind the arc. Salem State struggled on the offensive end, shooting 11-of-35 (31.4%) from the field.

A 1-for-11 (9.1%) start for Salem State in the third gave the Bears a commanding 59-28 lead. A Bradbury jumper spurred a 15-2 run, capped by a three from Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) with just over four minutes remaining in the quarter. The advantage grew to 37 points, 73-36 after a Moniz jumper, as the Bears finished the quarter converting 12-0f-20 (60.0%) field goal attempts.

A 16-0 run to open the fourth pushed the score to 89-37 in favor of Bridgewater State before Gates ended the drought with a jumper for the Vikings. Salem State went scoreless for six minutes while missing 11 straight shots. The Bears, which limited the Vikings to just two fourth quarter field goals, emptied their bench before winning 93-42.