WORCESTER -- Ava Giansiracusa (Wethersfield, CT) canned 9-of-10 field goal attempts, including all four of her 3-pointers, en route to establishing a new career-high with 25 points as WPI led from start-to-finish in a 73-53 victory over visiting Bridgewater State in a non-conference women's basketball matchup inside WPI's Sports and Recreation Center on Wednesday evening.  The contest had been postponed from the night before due to the storm that hit the area.
 
Giansiracusa, whose previous career high was 22 achieved versus Smith her rookie season in January of 2024 and last season against Coast Guard, stuffed the stat sheet with five steals, four rebounds and three assists. Leila Nielsen (New York, NY) scored 12 points to go with four assists and three rebounds and Emmy Allyn (Rutland, MA scored 11 points and had four rebounds and three steals.  Ava Hyams (Kearny, NJ) and Allison Fullem (Underhill, VT) helped the hosts to a 40-32 edge in rebounds with nine and seven respectively while Kayla Goldrick (Attleboro, MA) rattled off five points in a 6-0 WPI first quarter spurt.
 
Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, MA) scored 18 points and made four 3-pointers to lead the Bears (1-3). Bradbury fell just short of her career highs with BSU. She had scored 19 points with five 3-pointers against Salem State on Jan. 8, 2025. Savannah Azoff (Sandwich, MA) scored nine points and had three rebounds for the Bears while Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, NY) added eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
WPI opened with a 7-0 lead in the first 1:55 as Neilsen had five of the points, a jumper and a 3-pointer. BSU trailed after one quarter, 19-11, when it committed seven turnovers that led to 16 points by the Engineers.

The Crimson opened a 32-15 lead with 5:22 to go in the half, limiting the Bears to four points in the opening 4:45 of the second quarter. Allyn closed the half with two foul shots with 29 seconds to go for a 46-29 WPI lead.

The Engineers held a 60-41 advantage after three quarters.  The hosts were up by 22 on two occasions (58-36 and 60-38) and the Bears were no closer than 18 in the quarter.


The game was the 20th between the Bears and the Engineers with WPI holding an 11-9 advantage. WPI shot 47 percent while the Bears made just 36 percent.  BSU was 7-for-15 on 3-pointers but just 13 of 41 on two-pointers. The Bears also turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 25 WPI points.

WPI plays a second straight MASCAC opponent Saturday, hosting Salem State at 2pm while BSU will be back at home in the Tinsley Center for a 1pm game on Saturday against Babson, its second consecutive matchup with a NEWMAC squad.
 
Portion of Release Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information