WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team edge Keene State College, 66-59, in the consolation game of the Shooting Touch Tournament hosted by Williams College on Saturday afternoon at Chandler Gymnasium.

The Bears improve to 7-2 on the season, while the Owls fall to 2-5. The two teams were meeting for the first time since 2014 and just the third time since Keene joined Division III in 1997.

Sophomore forward Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) scored a game-high 19 points to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Grassi, who was selected to the All-Tournament Team, also added eight rebounds (three offensive), six assists, a steal and a blocked shot to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Senior guard Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.) contributed 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting to go along with four rebounds for the Bears who also received 11 points and two steals from sophomore forward Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) and a game-high ten rebounds from senior guard Sophia Gaucher (Lakeville, Mass.). Junior guard Caroline Tripp (Plymouth, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Freshman guard Valerie Luizzi (Colchester, Conn.) paced Keene State with 15 points and four rebounds, while sophomore forward Kenzie Durnford (Katy, Texas) and sophomore guard Aryanna Murray (Nashua, N.H.) checked in with 13 points apiece.

The game featured 17 ties and 13 lead changes. The biggest lead of the game was an eight-point BSU advantage (64-56) with just 30 seconds remaining in the contest. Keene's largest advantage of the afternoon was four points (21-17) at the 3:47 mark of the second quarter.

Bridgewater State led 28-26 lead at the break and took a 47-45 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Keene held a one-point lead (50-4) early in the final period, but went more than 5 ½ minutes without scoring due to outstanding BSU defensive pressure. During that stretch, the Owls turned the ball over ten times and missed five shots. Senior guard Sydney Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.) drained a three-pointer with 7:24 remaining to put the Bears back on top for good, 52-50. Nobody scored over the next nine possessions which featured four turnovers and seven missed field goals. Grassi then dropped in a layup, and, following a Keene turnover, knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the BSU lead to 56-60 with 4:23 left to play.

Murray ended the Owls' scoring drought with a three-pointer, but sophomore guard Eryn Rice (Medway, Mass.) answered for the Bears with a trifecta at the other end of the floor to reclaim the six-point lead (59-53) with just over three minutes showing on the scoreboard. Keene would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

The Bears shot 39.7% (27-68) from the floor and knocked down 8 of 11 (72.7%) free throw attempts, but went just 4-for-23 (17.4%) from behind the arc. Bridgewater finished with a decided 40-18 advantage in points in the paint.

The Owls finished with shooting percentages of 34.9% (22-63) from the floor, 38.9% (7-18) from three-point range and 66.7% (8-12) at the charity stripe.

The two teams combined for 44 turnovers in the game with Keene committing 12 miscues in the fourth quarter alone.

In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Clark University on Tuesday night for a seven o'clock game with the Cougars. The Owls entertain Little East Conference (LEC) foe Plymouth State University on Wednesday evening at 5:30.