Central Shenandoah News

Alsberry's Big Night Lifts Eagles Over Marlins

The Bridgewater College women's basketball team picked up an ODAC victory over Virginia Wesleyan 64-46 on Monday evening.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Bridgewater 64, Virginia Wesleyan 46

Records: Bridgewater 13-5, 8-4 ODAC; Virginia Wesleyan 6-14, 2-11 ODAC

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The contest opened with back-to-back triples from each side. The Marlins pulled in front with a pair of free throws, but Riley Corcoran nailed her second bucket of the evening from downtown to give BC a 6-5 advantage. The two squads continued to trade makes down the stretch with neither side able to pull too far ahead. Rosemary Pierson found Jay Garcia in transition for an easy two, giving the Eagles their largest advantage of the first quarter at four. The Marlins responded and pulled back to within one, but another Garcia bucket gave the Eagles a 17-14 advantage after the opening 10 minutes.
• India Dailey opened the scoring in the second quarter after the first two minutes went scoreless. It would be another two minutes before either side found nylon as an Abby Freeman layup gave the Eagles a 21-14 lead. VWU finally ended their scoreless drought midway through the quarter with four unanswered baskets to take the lead with 2:46 to go in the opening half. Pierson drew a foul and was able to make both attempts from the charity stripe to give BC the lead back with 90 seconds left in the frame. Virginia Wesleyan knocked down to free throws of their own on the next possession, but Bridgewater got the lead back as Jaden Alsberry's second chance effort found nylon at the buzzer.
• Both squads traded blows to open the third quarter with the lead changing on each basket. Corcoran found Abby Branner open from beyond the arc and the sophomore drilled a three-pointer to push the Eagles out to a four-point advantage. Branner's triple sparked a 14-3 Bridgewater run where the Marlins were held without a field goal for over six minutes. The run ended with a three-pointer from Dailey to extend the lead to 43-31 with just under a minute left in the quarter. The Marlins ended the cold streak with a basket in the final 40 seconds but trailed by 11 heading into the fourth frame.
• The two sides again traded baskets to open the quarter. A three-pointer for the home side pulled the Marlins to within seven with 6:59 left to play before the Bridgewater offense went to work. Kayla Ford made the back end of a pair at the charity stripe starting a 15-2 Bridgewater stretch led by eight points from Alsberry during the nearly four-minute span. The defense did its job as well holding VWU to just 1/4 during the run and forced a pair of turnovers. A Branner jumper extended the lead to 62-42, the largest of the night. The Marlins were able to close the game with a short-lived run of their own, but it was not enough as Bridgewater prevailed 64-46.

Original source can be found here