ASHLAND, Va. - Bridgewater's women's basketball squad held Methodist to an ice-cold 29% from the field as the Eagles were victorious by a 56-51 margin in the 2009-10 season opener at the Randolph-Macon Tip-Off.

After opening the game on a 10-0 spurt, the Eagles went ice cold for the next five minutes, allowing Methodist back into the contest as the Monarchs brought the game to within a 13-10 margin. BC answered with a 13-0 run to build its largest lead of the nights at a 23-10 tally with 8:20 to play in the first half.

Methodist endured a six plus minute defensive onslaught by the Eagles in the middle of the opening half as Bridgewater held the Monarchs scoreless from the 11:55 mark until the 5:27 point when they cut the score to a 25-14 BC advantage.

The two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the first half as the Eagles took a 29-20 lead into the locker room.

Junior Jordan Burkholder's six points in the game's first 92 seconds led all scorers in the first half, as the Eagles used 13 different players in the game's first 20 minutes of action.

Methodist opened the half with a 9-4 run to draw the game to within a three point margin at 35-32 with 16 and a half minutes to play.

Bridgewater answered with a six point spurt, capped off by four straight points from Stuarts Draft, Va. native Kristin Bosserman extended the team's lead to seven with 12 and change to play.

Following a pair of the fouls on Burkholder and freshman Katelynn Hottinger which gave the pair four a piece, Methodist was able to bring the game to within seven at a 49-42 tally with six and a half to play.

Sophomore Jenny Logan would provide a spark for the Eagles off the bench, netting the team's next six points, all from the charity stripe, to build the Bridgewater lead back to double digits at a 55-44 margin.

Bridgewater wouldn't score a point from the floor over the game's final seven minutes, but excellent free throw shooting held off a late Methodist run to give BC a 56-51 season opening win.

Logan led all scorers with 15 points, with 11 coming from the line. From the field, Burkholder turned in an eight point night, but dished out a game-high five assists along the way before fouling out with 1:49 to play.

Freshman Jackie Buckley pulled in a team-high six rebounds in limited action, while the Eagles as a team were outrebounded by a 39-35 margin.

Methodist had three players in double figures, led by Michaela Myers' 14 points.

The win for the Eagles was the team's first in a season opener since a 74-42 victory over Averett in the 2006 opener. BC won nine of its first 10 in '06 to start the year, before ending the year with a 17-9 mark.

“We made free throws when we needed to and showed a lot of depth which is a big difference maker for our team this year. It was a great first win for the Eagles,” said head coach Jean Willi.

Bridgewater wraps up the weekend tournament tomorrow, Saturday, when the squad tangles with Greensboro College. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m. at Randolph-Macon.