Bears Cruise To 79-60 Victory Over Vikings

SALEM, Mass. – Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) posted a double-double of 21 points and 16 rebounds and added four blocks as Bridgewater State improved to 2-0 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) with a 79-60 victory over Salem State Tuesday night at Twohig Gymnasium. The Bears led wire-to-wire in improving to 6-9 on the season. The Vikings slide to 3-10 and 0-2 in conference.   

Bridgewater State opened the game with an 8-0 run as the Vikings 2-15 (13.3%) struggled from the field. Fitzgerald did most of her damage in the paint, scoring 11 points in the quarter as the Bears built a 22-12 lead.

Jordyn Lako (Attleboro, Mass.) spearheaded the Bridgewater State offense in the second as multiple Salem State turnovers helped the Bears to easy transition layups. With 1:52 remaining before halftime, Hannah Dziadyk's (Wakefield, Mass.) layup gave Bridgewater State their largest lead of the half, 41-20.  

Fitzgerald finished the half with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting with six rebounds. The Bears shot 18-39 (46.2%) from the floor while the Vikings went 5-29 (17.2%) from the field. Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.) led Salem State with nine first half points.

Bridgewater State began the third with a 41-23 advantage. The Vikings continued to struggle from the field, connecting on just two of their first eight shots of the quarter as the Bears kept the margin near 20 points. A Hannah Dziadyk three gave Bridgewater State its largest lead of the game, 59-35 with 1:17 left in the third.   

Olivia Dziadyk (Wakefield, Mass.) paced the Bears with seven fourth quarter points as Bridgewater State remained comfortably in front. Mia Crawley (Hyannis, Mass.) scored eight of her nine points for Salem State in the final quarter, but the deficit was too large as Bridgewater State won going away, 79-60.

Olivia Dziadyk and Lako each combined for 10 points for the Bears while Kylee Piché (Bridgewater, Mass.) added 11 points. Bridgewater State went 32-74 (43.2%) form the field and outrebounded the Vikings 61-39. The Bears held a 52-22 advantage in points in the paint while their reserves outscored the Vikings 35-8.

Zaiter finished with 15 points to lead Salem State while Hannah Cravedi (Templeton, Mass.) had a career-high 14 points, going 10-11 from the free throw line. Nicole Freddo (Marblehead, Mass.) was the third Viking in double digits with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Salem State was just 16-64 (25.0%) from the field.