BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College women’s basketball team suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday to No. 19 Catholic, 68-48.

Records: (RV) Bridgewater 2-1, No. 19 Catholic 1-2

How It Happened
• Bridgewater opened up with a pair of makes by Riley Corcoran and Jaiden Polston to take a 4-0 lead 40 seconds in, but the Cardinals replied with a 6-0 run to take the lead. Corcoran knotted the game up at 6-6 with a jumper on a dish from Polston, but Catholic scored in response and pulled away to the tune of an 11-2 scoring run to take a 17-8 lead with 2:45 to go in the frame. Asia Williams drained a step-back jumper for the last bucket of the opening stanza to make it 17-10 in favor of CUA.
• Catholic drilled a three-pointer to extend its lead out to double figures, but Polston followed with four-straight points in response, capped off by an old-fashioned three-point play to slide the lead down to two scores. CUA temporarily impeded Polston’s fun with another make from deep, but the offense got back to work as Anna-Faith Brunk drained a mid-range jumper. Jay Garcia followed with an old-school three-point play of her own, and back-to-back scores from Corcoran allowed BC to tie the game at 23-23. Garcia gave the Eagles the lead with a pair of makes at the charity stripe, and Jasmine Griffin concluded what had become a 17-3 Bridgewater run with a layup to make it 27-23 for the home team. The Cardinals regrouped and got back on the scoreboard with a layup, before a pair of three-pointers concluded an 8-0 run to give them a 31-27 lead at the break.
• Both sides traded scores to open the second half. BC maintained a four-point trailing distance to the Cardinals through the under-five-minute timeout, but another make from beyond the arc sparked an 11-0 run for the Cardinals that saw BC go without a field goal for the rest of the quarter. Catholic pushed the lead out to as much as 15 points with 1:18 to go in the stanza, but a make at the free throw line by Brunk in the final minute made it 50-36 heading to the final 10 minutes of play.
• Autumn Gentry ended a four-minute field goal drought for the Eagles, and Catholic replied shortly after. Bridgewater looked to try and get a scoring run going, and they did at a 6-2 line led by four makes at the charity stripe by Garcia to cut the deficit down to 10 points with 5:44 to play. CUA drained another three-pointer on cue to end the short scoring burst and followed with four more points in succession. Polston broke up the Cardinal attack with a hook shot that found nylon, but the visitors kept the foot on the gas, closing the contest on an 8-2 run to take home a 68-48 victory.

Match Notes,
• Garcia led BC with 13 points and was just a board shy of her third double-double in a row to open the season. The senior also went 9-for-9 at the charity stripe to go along with four assists in the Eagles’ first loss of the season. Polston and Corcoran put up 12 points each.
• Kraft led Catholic with 14 points, including four makes from beyond the arc. Catania had 11 rebounds, while Blumenthal added five assists in Catholic’s first victory of the young season.
• The three-point shooting proved to be the difference. Catholic was 11-of-28 from beyond the arc, while BC went without a make beyond the arc on 14 attempts. CUA won the battle on the glass 46-34, while the teams were tied with 28 points each in the paint.

Up Next
Bridgewater wraps up a four-game homestand as Stevenson visits on Tuesday at 5 p.m. as part of a Bridgewater Basketball Doubleheader.

— BC Athletics —