Bridgewater overcame an early deficit to lead 13-11 at the end of the first period and the Eagles led the rest of the way to defeat Elmira College, 74-64, on the first day of the Guilford College Classic.
The Eagles trailed 7-2 in the early going, but five straight points by senior guard Jessica Lam pulled the Eagles even at 7-7. Emily Green’s jumper gave the Soaring Eagles a 9-7 lead before two foul shots by Allie Coburn tied the game at 9-9. Tyler Pinder and Kaitlyn Lehan both connected on 1-of-2 foul shots and Lehan added a short jumper with 11 seconds left in the quarter to give the Eagles a 13-9 lead.
Bridgewater led the rest of the way, but the Eagles were unable to put Elmira away.
The Eagles opened the second period with a 5-1 run and led 18-10 when Lam knocked down a 3-pointer. Elmira reeled off seven straight points to pull within one, but three points by Briana Moore kept the Eagles on top.
After a bucket by Elmira’s Danielle Cleary, Lam hit a 3-pointer and a layup to push the Eagles lead to 26-19. Emily Green connected on a jumper for Elmira before a 3-pointer by Moore put the Eagles up 29-21 with 3:50 left in the opening half.
A jumper by Lam gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the half, 31-21, but Elmira’s Lindsey Heaton made two jumpers to trim the margin to six. Bridgewater’s Jessalyn Monday scored on a short jumper but Rachel Vespucci hit a shot at the buzzer, cutting the Eagles’ lead to six, 33-27, at the break.
Elmira pulled to within three, 41-38, midway through the third period before two free throws by Coburn, a jumper by Lam and a free throw by Sydni Carey pushed the Eagles’ advantage back to eight, 46-38.
Elmira continued to hang close and a pair of jumper by Cleary cut the Bridgewater lead to four points, 50-46, with 1:03 left in the third period. Lam scored on a layup in the closing seconds, sending Bridgewater to the fourth period with a 52-46 lead.
The Eagles took their biggest lead of the game when back-to-back buckets by Coburn pushed the margin to 61-50 with 6:37 remaining in the contest. Two foul shots by Heaton and a 3-pointer from Emily Green sliced the margin to six, but Coburn scored again from in close, giving the Eagles a 63-55 lead with 4:14 left.
Two foul shots by Cleary made it a 3-point game with 2:50 remaining, but the Eagles responded with a 7-0 spurt to put the game away. Carey scored on a driving layup and Lam and Moore combined to make four straight from the foul line, making the score 71-62 with 56 seconds on the clock. Moore added 3-of-4 from the line, giving the Eagles’ their largest lead of the contest, 74-62, with just 20 seconds remaining.
Lam and Moore bounced back from a tough outing against nationally-ranked Christopher Newport to lead the Eagles to their first win of the season. Lam scored a game-high 23 points and Moore poured in 20 points. Coburn came off the bench and had the best game of her career as the sophomore center just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.
Cleary paced Elmira with 21 points and Heaton added 17.
Bridgewater controlled the glass by a 51-40 margin. Coburn had plenty of help on the boards as Lam and Monday each contributed eight rebounds.
Carey turned in a strong floor game for the Eagles as she scored seven points and dished out four assists while turning the ball over just one time in 33 minutes.
The Eagles will look to go 2-0 on the trip to Greensboro when they play MacMurray College at noon on Sundayafternoon.
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