College Women’s Basketball Final – Guilford 69, Bridgewater 67

BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Heaven Walters’ (Yadkinville, N.C./Starmount) go-ahead lay-up with 52 seconds left in the contest gave Guilford College the final advantage as the Quakers rallied to earn a Saturday afternoon Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory over Bridgewater College, 69-67.

The Eagles raced out to a 13-4 lead early in the contest before exiting the period with an eight-point lead thanks to 11 Guilford turnovers. The Quakers (6-1, 1-0 ODAC) overcame first-quarter turnovers to open the second period on a 13-0 run, lasting six minutes, to claim a lead as large as five points. Bridgewater immediately answered with a quick 7-0 run lasting 1:39 to reclaim the lead. The offensive glass propelled the Quakers back into the contest, crashing the boards for 12 offensive rebounds in the half, producing ten second-chance points.

Both teams dueled in the first portion of the third quarter until Bridgewater produced a 7-0 run in a 1:36 span late in the period to claim their largest lead, eight points, which the Eagles achieved twice in the period. Guilford opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run, but the Eagles re-claimed the lead thanks to an 7-1 run in response to the Guilford rally. With 3:05 remaining, Briana Moore made a lay-up to boost the Eagles to a six-point lead. Essence Abraham (Greensboro, N.C./Dudley) sank a three-pointer 17 seconds later to spark a 12-4 game-closing run, including Walters’ lay-up with 52 seconds left, to claim the victory from the Eagles.

Lauren Ramsey (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) led the Quakers with 18 points on eight-of-18 shooting, 11 points coming in the first half. Abraham powered the bench 17 points on six-of-12 shooting with four assists and four steals. Walters’ game-winning lay-up secured her first double-double of the season with ten points and ten rebounds.

Cassidy Burkholder led Bridgewater with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists while shooting six-of-11 from the field. Briana Moore and Jessica Lam each added ten points a piece.

The Quakers crushed the Eagles on the glass, out-rebounding Bridgewater, 51-29, thanks to 26 Guilford offensive rebounds. The Quakers converted their offensive rebounds into 28 second-chance points while Bridgewater produced 13 points off the offensive glass.

Guilford shot 38.3 percent from the field, including 40 percent in the second half. Bridgewater shot 43.3 percent for the contest. The Quakers finished with 22 turnovers while Bridgewater tallied 17 miscues, but both sides equaled each other’s production off turnovers, 20-20.

The Quakers return to the court after a break for final exams next Sunday, December 13th, for 2 p.m. contest against Methodist University inside Ragan-Brown Field House.

Guilford vs Bridgewater
12/5/15 3:00 p.m. at Bridgewater, VA – Nininger Hall
At Bridgewater, VA – Nininger Hall

GUILFORD 69
BRIDGEWATER 67

GUILFORD (6-1, 1-0 ODAC) RAMSEY, Lauren 8-18 1-2 18; ABRAHAM, Essence 6-12 2-2 17; WALTERS, Heaven
3-7 4-4 10; WEATHERLY, Anais 4-14 1-2 9; BREEDLOVE, Ymani 3-6 1-2 7; BROWN, Jordyn 2-5 0-0 4; STELLER, Amy 1-5 1-2 3; CLARK, Kate 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 27-70 11-16 69.

BRIDGEWATER (3-3, 1-1 ODADC) BURKHOLDER, Cassidy 6-11 5-6 17; LAM, Jessica 3-10 3-4 10; MOORE, Briana 4-12 2-2 10; CAREY, Sydni 4-5 1-3 9; KELLY, Oshene 4-7 1-2 9; STROM, Jessi 3-9 0-0 8; LEHAN, Kaitlyn 1-1 0-0 2; CAMPBELL, Kara 1-5 0-0 2; SPINNER, Gabrielle 0-0 0-0 0; BOREN, Melynda 0-0 0-0 0; MONDAY, Jessalyn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 12-17 67.

Guilford......................   12   17   16   24  -   69
Bridgewater...................   20   11   21   15  -   67

3-point goals–Guilford 4-18 (ABRAHAM, Essence 3-5; RAMSEY, Lauren 1-5; WEATHERLY, Anais 0-1; STELLER, Amy 0-3; CLARK, Kate 0-3; WALTERS, Heaven 0-1), Bridgewater 3-10 (STROM, Jessi 2-5; LAM, Jessica 1-1; CAMPBELL, Kara 0-2; MOORE, Briana 0-2).
Fouled out–Guilford-None, Bridgewater-None.
Rebounds–Guilford 51 (BREEDLOVE, Ymani 12), Bridgewater 29 (BURKHOLDER, Cassidy 6).
Assists–Guilford 13 (ABRAHAM, Essence 4), Bridgewater 16 (STROM, Jessi 5).
Total fouls–Guilford 17, Bridgewater 15.
Technical fouls–Guilford-None, Bridgewater-None.
A-355
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game