February 2, 2008

BRYANT WOMEN FALL SHORT OF BENTLEY SWEEP, FALLING 59-58 ON ROAD DESPITE 14-POINT CHARGE IN FINAL MINUTE

JUNIOR CARA JOHNSON

WALTHAM, MASS. - As the clock ticked below the one-minute mark Saturday afternoon at Bentley College's Dana Center, the Bryant University women's basketball team was faced with a near-impossible task: erasing a 56-44, 12-point deficit.

At least everyone away from the bench thought so.

Not the Bulldogs. In fact, they refused to believe it so much that they nearly pulled it off, silencing the Falcons' more than 1600 fans as they closed the scoring gap with each passing second.

But despite a 14-point charge in the last 60 seconds of regulation - led by back-to-back-to-back 3-point field goals from freshman Lindsey Hudspeth (Mount Laurel, N.J.) - there would be no fairytale ending for the Bulldogs, who fell just short of what would have been their first-ever season sweep of rival Bentley College, 59-58.

Bentley (14-6, 11-4 Northeast-10) entered Saturday's game looking to avenge a 56-55 loss to Bryant (14-7, 9-7) at the Chace Athletic Center back on Dec. 4, 2007. The loss came at a time when the Falcons were ranked No. 15 on the national polls.

But the Bulldogs took their first lead of the game just under five minutes in, when senior captain Lynne-Ann Kokoski (Hatfield, Mass.) drove through the key for a tricky layup and a 7-6 advantage.

After the Falcons tied the score at 13-13 with 9:58 to play, both sides went scoreless for over 2:30. But from there, Bentley took over.

The Falcons went on an 8-0 run over the next 5:09 to take a 21-13 advantage over the Bulldogs, who struggled from the free throw line. As the clock ticked down to the one-minute mark with Bentley posting a 25-16 lead, Bryant made a push to recoup momentum as it headed to the locker room.

Off a steal and a fast break down the court, Kristin Mraz (Johnstown, NY) made a quick layup and came back down the court moments later to sink a big three-pointer from the right side of the arc with 9.2 left, narrowing the Bulldogs' deficit to 25-21 at the break.

But the heart of the Bulldogs' struggles came from the charity stripe, where they shot just 2-for-11 for the frame. Bryant got just one point from leading scorer Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.), who chipped in seven boards, while getting seven apiece from Kokoski and Mraz.

Neither team shot particularly well, with Bentley's 33.3 percent shooting leading Bryant's 28.1 clip for the first half.

In the second frame, the two rivals opened the half trading baskets. But with 8:56 to go, a 3-point play from Kristy McLean jumpstarted Bentley's 16-7 run that took them to the two-minute mark.

McLean's play drove the score to 41-35 in favor of the Falcons, and Bentley upped the score to 50-37 with 2:43 to play. And by the time the clock hit 1:00, the Bulldogs were down by 12 points, 56-44.

But they were far from finished.

A big trey from Hudspeth with 59 seconds left narrowed the score to 56-47. A short jumper from O'Keefe gave Bryant two more before Hudspeth did it again, this time from the top of the key to bring the score to 56-52 in the Falcons' favor.

Kokoski made the front end of a pair of free throws and Hudspeth followed it up with another three - her deepest yet - to make the score 58-56 with 16 seconds on the clock.

But when Bentley's Angela Manfredi made the back end of a pair from the stripe - the Falcons were just 3-for-10 from the line in the final minute - to force Bryant to make another trey to tie, it would be too much for the Bulldogs to overcome.

Junior Cara Johnson (Endicott, NY) got off a short jumper to bring the score to 59-58 with :0.9 on the clock, but the Bulldogs wouldn't get another chance to complete their comeback.

Kokoski led the game with 14 points, adding six rebounds and a game-high six assists, while Johnson chipped in 11. O'Keefe, while limited to seven points, gathered a game-high 12 boards on the day, nine on defensive glass. Vanessa Lux led the Falcons with 13 points while McLean notched 12.

Bryant continues its road trip for one more game, heading up to Rindge, N.H. on Tues., Feb. 5 to take on No. 25 Franklin Pierce. The Bulldogs are 0-1 against the Ravens this season, but are 2-0 against ranked opponents in 2007-08. Tipoff is 5:30 p.m.