BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Senior guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) became the 15th player in school history to score 1000 or more points for the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team in a 67-54 loss to host Bridgewater State University this evening at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater, Mass.

The Lyons slip to 4-10 on the season, while the Bears improve to 9-6.

The teams combined for 52 turnovers in the game, including 27 from Wheaton. The Lyons shot 29.9% (20-67) from the floor, while Bridgewater State was 22-60 from the floor for a 36.7% mark. The Bears controlled the glass, owning a 48-40 rebounding advantage.

Fernandes scored just 16 seconds into the contest with a layup on a feed from sophomore guard Mary McClintock (Essex Junction, Vt.) at the 9:44 mark of the opening quarter to give her 1,001 career points at Wheaton.

Junior guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) led the Lyons with 12 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and added three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Junior forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds to go with a steal and a block, while junior guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) came up with a career-high seven steals in addition to nine points, four rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Senior forward Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) led all scorers with 24 points on 7-14 from the field and 9-12 from the line and added eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals for Bridgewater State. Graduate student guard Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.) netted 15 points on 6-11 shooting to go with six assists, six steals and five rebounds and senior center Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) ripped down 14 boards in addition to six points, three assists, four steals and a game-high five blocks.

The teams were tied at 30-30 at the intermission, before the Bears took a 34-33 edge after a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.). The home team broke the game open with an 11-2 run, fueled by four points each from Piche and D'Amours, to take a 45-35 advantage with 3:49 to go in the third quarter. Senior forward Jordan Peebles (Middleboro, Mass.) sank a pair of free throws to give Bridgewater State the last points of the period and a 47-37 margin heading into the final quarter of play.

Bradbury hit two free throws for the first points of the fourth quarter to bump the Bears' cushion to 49-37 before Wheaton scored five straight points, including a triple from McClintock, to pull the Lyons within 49-42 with 8:37 remaining in the game. 

Walters later converted a pair of free throws for Wheaton to keep the visitors within 54-46, but Bridgewater State ripped off seven unanswered points, including five from Grassi, to give the Bears the largest lead of the night at 61-46 with 5:20 showing on the fourth quarter clock.

Wheaton's final push was an 8-3 run, paced by five points from Duwe, to cut the difference to 64-54 with 105 seconds left in the game, but it was as close as the Lyons would get.

McClintock made a layup to pull Wheaton even at 4-4 at the 8:59 mark of the first quarter, before Bridgewater State put together a 12-4 stretch, fueled by eight points from Grassi, to put the Bears on top, 16-8, with 4:47 left in the quarter. The Lyons roared back with a 13-3 run, backed by six points from sophomore forward Cheyenne Colbert (Brookline, N.H.), to give Wheaton a 21-19 lead before the quarter ended.

Senior guard Sydney Ropes (Duxbury, Mass.) canned a jumper for the first points of the second quarter to give the Lyons their biggest margin of the contest at 23-19 with 7:50 to go in the opening half. Bridgewater State scored the next five points to take the lead for good and spark an 11-3 blitz to give the home team a 30-26 lead with 1:11 to play in the second quarter. Wheaton knotted the game with the next four points to make it a stalemate at the end of the half.

The Lyons return to play on Saturday, January 18 when they open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate with a 1:00 p.m. tip-off at Emerson Gymnasium against United States Coast Guard Academy, while the Bears host Worcester State University on January 18 at 2:00 p.m. in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tilt.