HARRISONBURG, Va. (BC Athletics) – The Bridgewater College women’s basketball team opened the season with a 58-31 victory over Mary Washington on Friday night.

Score: Bridgewater 58, Mary Washington 31
Records: Bridgewater 1-0, Mary Washington 0-1

How It Happened
• UMW got on the board first with a make from downtown by Adeline Riner thirty seconds in. Jaden Alsberry got the Eagles on the board with a third-chance effort, but that was nearly halfway through the quarter and just at a 3-2 game in the matchup of defensive-based programs. Mary Washington held the lead for much of the frame as the teams traded buckets until Jaiden Polston knocked down a jumper to put BC in front 8-7. UMW pulled back ahead, but a jumper from Asia Williams put BC ahead momentarily as a one-of-two effort at the stripe late from Mary Washington made it 10-10 after one.
• Mary Washington got on the board first in the second frame, but from that point forward BC took over as Bridgewater embarked on an 11-2 run highlighted by a pair of makes by Corcoran and an old-school three point play by Jay Garcia to make it 21-14. UMW finally made a small divot into the gap with another late one-of-two effort at the charity stripe to make it 21-15 in favor of the crimson and gold at the half.
• Alsberry opened the second half with a make late in the shot clock and then the BC defense went to work as Mary Washington went 0-for-9 to begin the second half, but BC struggled as well with five turnovers during the same time span. After UMW got on the board BC responded with a three-pointer from India Dailey to put life in the offense and stop the cold spell. UMW tried to slow the momentum with a make of its own, but buckets from Polston and Alsberry put the lead out to double-figures and pushed out to an 8-0 BC run to make it 34-19 before Mary Washington drained a three-pointer with over a minute to go in the frame and send it to the final frame at 34-22.
• Mary Washingon opened the fourth with the first points on a pair of makes at the charity stripe, but another 8-0 BC tear pushed the lead to 42-24 before a timeout. UMW finally got the liud off of the hoop after being held without a field goal for 4:56 as a layup sliced into the lead for a moment. The teams traded buckets shortly, but a 13-2 BC run into the final 18 seconds blew the game wide open highlighted by a trio of three-pointers from Angelina Yann, Alexis Edmonds and Autumn Gentry. UMW scored late but the damage was already done.

Match Notes
• Alsberry opened the season the only way she knows how with a 12 point-11rebound double-double. Garcia and Corcoran each pitched in eight points as well as 11 different Eagles registered a bucket.
• Riner led Mary Washington with nine points and seven rebounds as UMW was held to 21.8% from the field and 13.3% from long range.
• BC won the battle on the glass with a 47-38 edge in rebounds, but the defense set the tone from start to finish. Along wih the field goal percentage, Garcia and Alsberry each tallied three blocks, while five different BC players had multiple steals as 18 of the 23 UMW turnovers were caused.

Up Next
Bridgewater turns around and takes on Notre Dame (Md.) tomorrow afternoon in the first ever meeting between the two schools.

— BC Athletics —