Bryant University Bulldogs Women's Hoops Hosts Bentley Saturday Looking for 5th Straight Win

BRYANT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

February 3, 2007

Today's Game
The Bryant University Bulldogs take on the Bentley Falcons in a Northeast-10 matchup. The Falcons stormed back late to edge the Bulldogs 62-60 earlier this season in Waltham, Mass. Bryant trails Bentley, who is garnering votes in the Div. II Poll, by one-game in the NE-10 standings.

Game Notes
The Bryant Women's Basketball team capped a come-from-behind victory defeating Saint Anselm 73-68 in overtime in Manchester, N.H. Wednesday night.

Bryant trailed 57-50 with just over two minutes remaining, but an Erin Murphy (Albany, NY) jumper helped ignite a late run as two Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) free throws and a jumper by the freshman forward helped pull Bryant to within 58-56 with a minute to go.

Down by three with 22 seconds left, O'Keefe's three-pointer rimmed out but Lynn-Ann Kokoski (Hatfield, Mass) was there for the rebound and was fouled. After making one of two, the Bulldogs forced a turnover, giving Bryant one more chance with ten seconds left to tie the game.

Kokoski made up for the miss by hitting a drive in traffic with three seconds left to tie the game, 59-59 and send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, Saint Anselm once again led comfortably 68-62 with under three minutes left, but the Bulldogs closed out the extra session with eight-straight points to earn the win.

O'Keefe's three-pointer with 1:26 left put the Bulldogs ahead for good.

O'Keefe finished with 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line.

Joanna Skiba (Providence, RI) added 18 points, incuding five free throws in overtime, while Murphy finished with 14 points.

Bryant shot 35.7 percent from the floor and made 27 of 35 free throws.

Earlier this season, with the Bulldogs leading 60-59 in the waning moments, Bentley's Shannon Kirwan nailed a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds to play to give the Falcons the 62-60 victory. Lauren Rubenoff (New Hartford, CT) tallied a career-high 23 points and added six boards. Bentley finished the game on a 17-4 run, while the Bulldogs made only two of eight free throws in the final two minutes.

COMING UP...
The Bulldogs return home for another big matchup with Franklin Pierce Tuesday at the Chace Center before heading to AIC Saturday and Saint Michael's Wednesday.
Tue. - Feb. 6 - Franklin Pierce, 5:30 p.m.
Sat. - Feb. 10 - at #14 American International, 1:30 p.m.
Wed. - Feb. 14 - at Saint Michaels, 5:30 pm

Scouting the Falcons
Shannon Kirwan became the 26th player in school history to reach the 1,000-career point plateau and Vanessa Luxv led all scorers with 14 points as Bentley rolled to a 73-45 win over Merrimack College Wednesday night. The Falcons have won 11 of 13 and are tied for fourth in the NE-10.

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME
Bryant enters the month of February on a four-game winning streak. Winners of eight of their last 10, the Bulldogs are tied for seventh place in the Northeast-10 but are only one game behind fourth place Bentley and Stonehill. Four of Bryant's next five games are against teams ahead of them in the standings and will give the Bulldogs every opportunity to move up in the standings and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

SKIBA A FORCE OFF THE BENCH
Since being removed from the starting lineup on Jan. 17, senior co-captain Joanna Skiba (Providence, RI) is racking up the points. She is averaging 23 points in 28 minutes in four games since coming off the bench. She was named the Northeast-10 Player of the Week from Jan. 15-21. Skiba now has 1,251 career-points and is 16 behind Sue Crisafi, who is eighth on the all-time list.

BRYANT RANKED 9TH IN REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Bulldogs remained in ninth place in the third edition of the Div. II Regional Rankings. The top-eight teams will qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Unbeaten Southern Connecticut topped the rankings, while Saint Rose (2), AIC (3), Bentley (4), Franklin Pierce (6), Stonehill (7), and Pace (8) also were ranked in the top-eight from the Northeast-10. Bryant last qualified for the NCAA Tourney in 2004.

O'KEEFE PICKING UP POINTS AND AWARDS IN 2007
Freshman Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) has picked up her scoring in the new year. In Bryant's seven games in 2007, O'Keefe leads her team in scoring and rebounding (17.7 points, 7.8 rebounds). 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. She was also selected as the Co-Freshman of the Week from Jan. 15-21. O'Keefe averaged 24.5 points last week in victories at Merrimack and Saint Rose. She continued her success tallying 25 points and eight rebounds against #13 Stonehill on Jan. 13 and then posted a double-double (17 points, 13 boards) while getting a career-high five steals in a 68-48 win against Le Moyne on Jan. 20.

BRYANT 8-2 WITH LYNNE-ANN MANNING THE POINT
Following a dissapointing 65-50 loss at Barry Univ., Head Coach Mary Burke revamped the starting five as 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, at the point. The Bulldogs are 8-2 when the junior starts. She matched her career high in assists with seven in wins over Le Moyne, Saint Rose and Southern N.H. Against #13 Stonehill, she tallied ten points and matched her career high with eight boards. Kokoski also forced overtime tying the game at Saint Anselm with just six seconds remaining.

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, is second on the team averaging 12.7 points per game and a team-best 6.5 boards. Mraz has started eight games, averaging four points. The Bulldogs are 8-1 when Schermerhorn starts, 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.