Shorthanded Gulls Fall to Bridgewater State
March 1, 2006
Bridgewater, MA - Senior forward Catie Furtado (Taunton, MA) recorded a double-double (28 points, 13 rebounds) to lead fourth-seeded Bridgewater State past No. 5 Endicott College, 75-61, in the quarterfinal round of the 2006 ECAC Division III New England Women's Basketball Tournament.
BSC (20-7) will face top-seeded Mt. Holyoke (21-6) in the semifinals Friday night (5:30). Mt. Holyoke toppled Western Connecticut State in its quarterfinal contest
The Gulls, who were making their second straight ECAC appearance after their deepest ever run in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament, finish the season at 18-11.
Furtado had season highs in points and rebounds, connecting on 13-of-22 field goal attempts while adding four steals, two assists and two blocks.
The Bears led 34-27 at intermission on the shooting arm of Furtado, who netted 13 points in the first 20 minutes of play. However, the lead evaporated in the opening minutes of the second half as the Gulls went on a 15-6 run to take a 42-40 advantage.
Endicott pushed the margin to 47-44 before the hosts reeled off seven straight to take the lead for good. The Bears owned a 53-33 advantage in rebounds and ripped down 21 offensive boards. Moreover, the visitors were plagued by illness. Endicott took just eight players to Bridgewater and were without leading scorer and senior co-captain Liz Yuneman (Middle Village, NY/St. Francis Prep).
The Gulls still managed to put four players in double digits led by freshman forward Nicole Young (Rockland, MA/Cardinal Spellman), who finished an impressive first season for EC.
Young recorded her sixth double-double of the season in the loss. She poured in a team-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Senior guard Jodi Brown (Coventry, RI/Coventry) contributed 14 points for EC, while senior forward Sarah Voigt (Kingston, NH/Sanborn Regional) and sophomore forward Sara Doherty (Somerville, MA/Arlington Catholic) added 10 apiece.
Senior forward Samantha Curry (Braintree, MA) was the only other Bear in double figures as she scored 13 points and added 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Curry now has 1,046 points in her four-year career at Bridgewater State as she needs just six points to move past Lora O'Connell (1,051 points) into seventh place on the Bears all-time scoring list.