Bryant University Bulldogs Women's Basketball Looks to Continue Streak Against Le Moyne Saturday at the Chace Center (1:30 p.m.)

BRYANT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs Le Moyne

January 20, 2007

Today's Game
The Bryant University Bulldogs take on the Le Moyne Dolphins today at the Chace Center. Last season, Bryant defeated the Dolphins 83-76 in their only meeting and have won the last five meetings and six of the last seven.

Regional Rankings Announced

The first set of regional rankings were announced Thursday and the Bulldogs are ranked ninth in the Northeast region. The top eight teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Radio

Jared Hager and SJ Turnblom will call of the action live Saturday from the Chace Center. The game can be heard at http://www.bryantbulldogs.com/.

Game Notes
The Bryant Women's Basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a 79-68 win over Southern N.H. Wednesday night in Manchester, NH.

Senior guard Joanna Skiba (Providence, RI) scored 27 of her career-high 31 points in the second half as Bryant stormed back, scoring 54 second-half points.

Skiba, who came off the bench for the Bulldogs, helped spark a 12-3 Bryant run midway through the second half to break open a tight game. Trailing 40-37, Skiba drained a three from the left side and moments later followed with a fast-break layup following a SNHU turnover, giving the Bulldogs a 42-40 lead with 12:39 left.

A Lynne-Ann Kokoski (Hatfield, Mass.) three from the top of the key gave the Bulldogs a 49-43. Kokoski would finish with a team-high seven assists in 36 minutes of action.

Southern New Hampshire would make one last run at the Bulldogs, but another three by Skiba followed by a Lauren Rubenoff (New Hartford, Conn.) jumper in the paint pushed the lead to 61-55 with just over 10 minutes left to play.

Skiba, who's previous career best was 26 poitns, was 11 of 18 from the floor and was 5-for-10 from three-point range.

Freshman Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) had 18 points and seven rebounds while Erin Murphy (Albany, NY) finished with 16 and added eight rebounds.

Bryant shot 50 percent from the floor in the game including 60 percent in the second half, avenging a 76-70 defeat earlier this season at the Chace Center.

With her career-high 31 points, Skiba jumped into ninth place on the Bryant all-time scoring list with 1,190 points.

Scouting the Dolphins
Senior Lindsay Ellis scored a season-high 14 points to pace the Dolphins, who lost to Franklin Pierce 69-54 Tuesday night. The Dolphins have dropped five straight decisions. Katie Dunn chipped in with ten points. Ellis made 4-of-6 from the field and converted 6-of-8 from the free throw line.The Dolphins hit only 17-of-47 shots (36.2%), but continued their league-best effort from the free throw line where they hit 17-of-21 (81%), including 16-of-19 in the second half.

COMING UP...
The Bulldogs return will host UMass Lowell Saturday before heading to Saint Anselm the following Wednesday
Sat. - Jan. 27 - UMass Lowell, 1:30 p.m.
Wed. - Jan. 31 - at Saint Anselm, 5:30 p.m.

SKIBA MOVES INTO 9TH ON ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
With her career-high 31 points at Southern N.H., senior guard Joanna Skiba (Providence, RI) jumped from 11th to ninth-place all-time on the Bryant scoring list. Skiba, who reached 1,000 points earlier this season against Assumption, came off the bench to lead the Bulldogs to a big road win over the Penmen. She was 11-for-18 from the field and 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Skiba now has 1,190 and is 77 points behind Sue Crisafi, who is eighth on the all-time list.

BRYANT 5-2 WITH LYNNE-ANN MANNING THE POINT
Following a dissapointing 65-50 loss at Barry Univ., Head Coach Mary Burke revamped the starting five. Only Erin Murphy (Albany, NY) remained from her traditional lineup. The change worked as Lynne-Ann Kokoski (Hatfield, Mass.) made her first start, scoring 11 points in 34 minutes while tallying a career-high seven assists leading the Bulldogs to a 65-50 victory over Nova SE. The Bulldogs returned to their normal lineup the following week, but Kokoski remained in the starting five, manning the point. The Bulldogs are 5-2 when the junior starts. She matched her career high in assists with seven in wins over Saint Rose and Southern N.H. Against #13 Stonehill, she tallied ten points and matched her career high with eight boards.

RUBENOFF A FORCE ON THE ROAD
Senior forward Lauren Rubenoff (New Hartford, CT) has become a force away from Smithfield this season. She is averging a team-leading 14.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in eight road games. At Assumption, she posted a double-double, tallying 18 points and ten boards, including ten of her team's first 18 points. Then against Merrimack on Jan. 3, she posted another double-double (19 points, ten rebounds). She scored 22 points, including 14 of Bryant's 19 second-half points, while grabbing five rebounds and shooting 10-for-18 from the field against Stonehill Wednesday. At Bentley on Dec. 5, "Ru" was the only Bulldog in double figures, scoring a career-high 23 points in a 62-60 loss to the Falcons.

O'KEEFE PICKING UP THE POINTS IN 2007
Freshman Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) has picked up her scoring in the new year. In Bryant's five games in 2007, O'Keefe is averging a team-best 18.5 points-per-game, as well as 7.5 rebounds, second on the team. She capped off a great week by being selected as the NE-10 Co-Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week from Jan. 1-7. O'Keefe averaged 24.5 points last week in victories at Merrimack and Saint Rose. She tallied a career-high 26 points in just 26 minutes, shooting 9-12 from the field and 8-10 from the line, while grabbing nine rebounds at Merrimack. Against Saint Rose, she scored 23 points in just 20 minutes, while adding 12 boards for her second career double-double. She continued her success tallying 25 points and eight rebounds against #13 Stonehill on Jan. 13.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Head Coach Mary Burke is relying on numerous freshmen this season to have a major impact. Four freshmen have already cracked the starting lineup, including Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.), Kristin Mraz (Johnstown, N.Y.), Adrianne Mayshar (West Boylston, Mass.) and Courtney Schermerhorn (Lowell, Mass.). O'Keefe, who has started all but two games this season, avergaes 11.8 points per game and six boards. She was named NE-10 Freshman of the Week from Jan. 1-7. Mraz has started eight games, averaging four points. Schermerhorn started Bryant's first four games and six overall, while Mayshar, Bryant's tallest player at 6-2, snagged nine boards at Merrimack and posted eight points, seven rebounds and two blocks off the bench in 29 minutes of action at Bentley. Against #24 Saint Rose, Burke called on freshman center Jamie Campbell (Springfield, Mass.) who responded with career highs in points (eight) and rebounds (ten) in 15 minutes.