BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Arielle Cleveland (Groveland, Mass.) scored six of her 15 points in overtime to help visiting Bridgewater State University defeat Babson College, 79-74, in non-conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson has dropped two consecutive games to drop to 1-2 on the year, while Bridgewater State improves to 1-1. 

Senior Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) scored a game-high 23 points and sophomore Samantha Reale (North Attleboro, Mass.) added 22 a career-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds and three steals to pace the Beavers. Senior Emily Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) also posted her first career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while senior Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) hauled down 11 rebounds in the loss. 

Cleveland led all players with 15 points and added five assists and three steals, while senior Kylie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) scored a team-high 20 points to lead the Bears. Graduate student Kylee Piche (Bridgewater, Mass.) finished with 13 points and a game-high seven steals and senior Jessica D'Amours (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and first-year Lexi Thompson (New Bedford, Mass.) added 12 points apiece in the victory. 

Bridgewater State raced out to a 10-4 lead and the Green and White followed with a 21-6 run to take its largest advantage of the game at 25-16 before settling for a 30-29 edge at the break. The third quarter featured six lead changes with the Beavers going on a 7-0 run to go up 44-38 on a three-pointer by Mollica at the 3:08 mark before the Bears countered with a 9-0 burst to go back in front 47-44 on a triple by Grassi in the closing seconds of the stanza. 

Down five with 6:30 to go in the fourth quarter, junior Allessia Carlo (Carmel, N.Y.) buried a corner three-pointer and Mollica followed with eight straight points to put Babson back in front 59-54 with 4:27 left. The visitors got three free throws from Piche and hoops by Thompson and Grassi to pull within one with 1:30 remaining and then took a 64-63 lead on two free throws by D'Amours with 36 seconds to go. 

The hosts regained a 66-64 advantage when Reale converted a three-point play with 15 second to play before Cleveland tied the game with a driving layup while being fouled on the ensuing possession. Silk grabbed the rebound and found Reale, who was fouled on a desperation three-point attempt with 0.3 ticks left but was unable to connect in three chances from the charity stripe, sending the game into overtime. 

Reale gave the Green and White a 73-72 edge by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 2:11 left in the extra session before Bridgewater State closed the game with a 7-1 run. Cleveland scored in the paint to put the visitors ahead for good with 1:08 to go and they went 4-of-4 at the free throw line over the final 26 seconds to close out the win. 

The Beavers shot 37.1 percent from the floor and finished with a 52-42 edge on the glass in the loss. The Bears shot 39.2 percent from the floor and outscored the hosts 36-24 in the paint. 

Both teams return to action on Friday as Babson hosts Roger Williams at 7 p.m., while Bridgewater State meets MIT at 7:30 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 19-5 all-time against Bridgewater State and Wednesday's loss snapped a four-game winning streak in the series. 
•    Babson dropped its home opener for the first time since 2018. 
•    Wednesday's contest marked just the second time the Green and White has played an overtime game dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign. 
•    Wednesday's loss was the first in 33 games for the Beavers when scoring at least 70 points since suffering a 75-71 setback at Springfield on January 12, 2022.