BRIDGEWATER, Mass.—William Smith College outlasted Bridgewater State University 84-76 in overtime in the opening game of The Cave Classic. Junior Melanie Patterson tied the Heron game record for free throws made on the way to a team-high 18 points.
 
Patterson was 12-of-16 at the line, marking the seventh time a William Smith player has made a dozen and the first time since Marisa Vespa in 2008. Patterson also handed out a game-high seven assists and grabbed six rebounds. The Heron frontcourt tandem of junior Gabrielle Eure and first-year Mia Morrison combined for 34 points and 36 rebounds. Eure scored 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and collected a game-high 20 rebounds. Morrison also recorded a double-double on 17 points and 16 rebounds. The pair's dominance on the glass led William Smith to a 64-33 rebounding advantage.
 
The Herons (1-1) shot 47 percent from the floor, including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 66 percent from the free throw line.
 
Junior Jennie Lindland paced the Bears (1-2) with 19 points, eight rebounds and five steals, while first-year Sara DaSilva, junior Chanelle Melton and sophomore Christine Curran contributed 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Bridgewater State was limited to just 37 percent shooting and made just 12 of 26 (46.2%) free throw attempts.
 
William Smith led 15-9 after the first quarter and stretched its advantage to as many as 13 in the second quarter, but Bridgewater State ended the first half on a 9-0 run, cutting the Herons lead to 29-25 at halftime.
 
The home team carried a 47-46 lead into the fourth quarter. After a back-and-forth final quarter, William Smith took a 65-60 lead on a pair of Patterson free throws with 22 seconds remaining in regulation. A DaSilva 3 cut the Heron lead to two with 19 seconds to go. The Bears again put Patterson on the line and she again made both free throws for a 67-63 lead with 15 seconds left. Senior Vanesa Conceicao hit a 3 with two seconds left and BSU again fouled Patterson, who made both of her freebies with 1.7 seconds remaining to make it a 3-point game.
 
The Bears threw a long in-bounds pass and Curran hit an off-balance 3 at the buzzer to force overtime.
 
In OT, William Smith connected on all four of its field goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, and went 6-for-10 at the line. The Bears took their only lead in overtime, 72-71, at the 3:04 mark, but the Herons used an 11-2 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from junior Alyssa DiCampli, to put the game out of reach.
 
William Smith will face Colby (1-0), an 84-48 winner of Wesley tonight, in The Cave Classic Championship game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21.