December 27, 2008

BULLDOGS RETURN FROM THREE-WEEK BREAK TO TAKE ON COLGATE IN OPENING ROUND OF FORDHAM TOURNAMENT SUNDAY AT 3 P.M.

BULLDOGS RETURN TO COURT FOR FORDHAM HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT, TAKE ON COLGATE IN SUNDAY'S 3 P.M. OPENING ROUND

BRYANT BULLDOGS UPDATE
The Bulldogs enter the Fordham Holiday Tournament fresh off a 21-day break from the hardwood. Bryant suffered a pair of tough losses before the break, falling to a defensively stingy and offensively loaded Lehigh side, 68-55, before absorbing a heartbreaking 64-57 defeat at the hands of Lafayette, despite holding a halftime lead. The Bulldogs are 3-6 entering the four-team tourney.

On the year, Bryant is led by 12.7 points per game from junior Kelsey O'Keefe, who joined the 1,000-point club with her first basket in Dec. 1's home-opening win. The co-captain also paces the Bulldogs on the glass, collecting 7.8 per contest while shooting 35.2 (43-for-122) percent from the field. Sophomore Siamone Bennett's 11 blocks are a team best, as are her 10 steals (senior Cara Johnson, junior Jaime Campbell and frosh Shannon Wood also have 10 steals). O'Keefe and Wood, who is proving to be strong from beyond the arc at 5-for-13 on the season, share a squad-best 23 helpers.

THE GAMES
Today's 3 p.m. matchup is the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Raiders. It is also the final of three-consecutive games that Bryant has seen against the Patriot League, having already faced off against Lehigh and Lafayette.

Depending on the outcome of each Nov. 28th matchup, Bryant will take on either the MEAC's Norfolk State, or tournament host Fordham University of the Atlantic 10 Conference. It will be the Bulldogs' first meeting with either competitor.

SCOUTING COLGATE (2-8)
The Raiders, like the Bulldogs, enter the tournament off a long 21-day rest, last touching the court on gameday in a 49-46 overtime loss to the University of Pennsylvania on Dec. 7. The loss was Colgate's eighth defeat of 2008, and the Raiders sit at 2-8 entering the tournament. A game-high 16 points from Colgate's Patricia Oakes led the Raiders in the loss, while freshman Kelly Korkowski also chipped in double-digit scoring with a career-best 10 points. Georgia Gier added eight points to compliment her team-high seven rebounds. As a team, the Raiders shot 32.7 percent from the floor despite going 0-for-9 from downtown.

Oakes was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week for the second-straight week, backed by a strong performance against Penn, and averages a second-best 9.8 points per contest and a team-most nine blocks. Sami Koslowski leads the way for Colgate, averaging 10.6 ppg while Gier paces the team on the boards, pulling down 8.3 per outing.

COLGATE VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Raiders have squared off against members of the NEC three times so far this season. And while the Bulldogs can't call themselves Northeast Conference members quite yet, here is how Colgate has fared against future conference opponents:

11/13 vs. Mount Saint Mary's Loss, 60-39
11/22 vs. Saint Francis (NY) Win, 56-54
12/1 at Wagner Loss, 58-56 (OT)

Colgate has also faced off against two common Bulldog opponents outside the NEC. The Raiders, like the Bulldogs, fell to Binghamton University, but unlike Bryant, Colgate also lost to the University of New Hampshire, a team the Bulldogs beat, 69-66, on Nov. 14 for their first-ever Division I victory.

SCOUTING FORDHAM (5-6)
The Rams enter their own tournament off a 66-64 win over Central Connecticut State University on Dec. 22. The Blue Devils held a 28-26 lead at halftime, despite 40.7 percent shooting from the floor from the Rams in his first frame. But in the second half, down one with less than 15 seconds to play in the game, Fordham's Randall Hurst scored, adding to her game-high 19 points to put the Rams up. The Fordham defense then held Central Connecticut scoreless on their final two possessions for the 66-64 victory. Becky Peters and Annie Zopf also scored double-digit points in the win with 12 and 10, respectively. Randall collected a team-best eight boards on the day.

Fordham is led on the season by 12.1 points per game from Randall, while Peters chips in another 9.1 of her own per contest. Randall also paces the team with 5.0 rebounds per outing, while 16 blocks from Takita Earl are a team best.

FORDHAM VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Raiders have squared off against members of the NEC just once so far this season. And while the Bulldogs can't call themselves Northeast Conference members quite yet, here is how Colgate has fared against future conference opponents:

12/22 vs. Central Connecticut W, 66-64

The Bulldogs have also faced off against the Blue Devils this season, taking a 64-61 victory out of New Britain, Conn. on Nov. 25.

SCOUTING NORFOLK STATE (0-5)
The Spartans are also clean off a three-week break from basketball contests entering the tournament, having last seen competition in a 90-59 loss to North Carolina A&T on Dec. 6. In that outing, Norfolk State handed over a 29-28 halftime lead, allowing the North Carolina A&T to score 62 second-half points en route to its fifth loss of the season. Danelle Tate scored a team-best 13 points in the defeat while Tyisha Bridges chipped in 10 points of her own.

The Spartans are still in search of their first 2008-09 win and are led on the season by 13.0 points per game from Whitney Long. Two other Spartans, Marquilla Evans (11.6) and Tate (10.6) also average double-digit scoring. Tate also leads the way on the glass, averaging 5.2 rebounds per outing.

NORFOLK STATE VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Spartans will not face off against an NEC school in the 2008-09 season.

BRYANT'S LAST TIME OUT
Despite leading at the half, the Bryant University women's basketball team, led by 17 points from senior co-captain Cara Johnson (Endicott, N.Y.), couldn't hold on for a win against Lafayette College, ending their road trip on a 64-57 heartbreaker at Kirby Field House Sunday afternoon.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? BRYANT vs. LAFAYETTE (12/7/08)
Bryant (3-6) got off to a hot start, going up 4-0 thanks in part to four-straight travelling violations from the home team, but Lafayette (4-5) caught up quickly, taking a slight edge and them trading leads with the Bulldogs for much of frame.

Neither team had more than a one-point lead until Bryant took a 26-21 advantage with 3:54 remaining after two successful Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y.) free throws and a three-point play from Johnson.

Lafayette would draw a pair of fouls in the final 1:30 to get back to just a three-point deficit entering the half, 30-27 in Bryant's favor. Johnson's 10 points paced the game at the break, matched by Lafayette's Elizabeth Virgin.

But the Leopards would score four straight out of the gates to take over the lead, 32-31. Lafayette went up, 39-35, before the Bulldogs started to get back to scoring. Bryant completed two-straight and-one plays to reclaim the lead, 43-41, with 11:49 showing on the clock.

But the home side soon took it right back, going up by one and holding onto a single-point lead until Bryant's Johnson and junior Kristin Mraz (Johnstown, N.Y.) teamed up for five points and a 52-48 advantage with 5:31 to play.

But as the game approached the one-minute mark, Cristin Zavocki made it a four-point game to Lafayette's advantage, 61-57 with a quick layup. From there, all that was left for Bryant was to foul. And while the Leopards missed 4-of-6 in the final 60 seconds, the Bulldogs missed on three-straight trips to their own basket, finally falling, 64-57.

Johnson led Bryant in both points (17) and rebounds (8), while Lafayette had four players in double-digits, led by a game-high 19 points from LaKeisha Wright and a double-double from Virgin (14p, 12r).

THE HIGHLIGHTS
Johnson tied a personal and team season-high with her 17 points against the Leopards and was the only Bulldog to score double digits, connecting on over 50 percent of her shots from the floor in a game-high 35 minutes of action.

BABY GRAND
With a layup 43 seconds into Monday's 53-50 win over St. Francis (NY), junior Kelsey O'Keefe became the 19th player in Bryant women's basketball history to pass the 1000-point plateau. The 6-1 forward enters tonight's game with 1,014 points after being the team's top points scorer in each of the past two seasons. O'Keefe is the first player to achieve such a feat since Joanna Skiba ('07) reached the 1000-point plateau against Assumption College on November 30, 2006, and O'Keefe is one of the fastest to reach the landmark.

SHE'S HEATING UP!
But it is Cara Johnson, a senior co-captain, who has been hot as of late, averaging 10.3 points per game since Nov. 29, with a season-high 17 coming against Lafayette.

BURKE TO BE INDUCTED INTO INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE HALL OF FAME
Rhode Island hoops pioneer and Bryant head coach Mary Burke has been named among the 12 headed for the RI Interscholastic League Hall of Fame.

A Rhode Island native, Burke was a great multi-sport athlete in the early days of the league's girls sports programs and is one of the best athletic success stories of any of the league's female graduates. She will be inducted on May 6 at the league's annual Hall of Fame induction dinner at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick.

BURKE NEARS 250TH CAREER VICTORY
With Dec. 1's win over the Terriers of St. Francis (NY), 18-year head coach Mary Burke is just a single win away from her 250th career victory. In her 18th season as head coach of the Bryant University women's basketball program, Burke has a career record of 249-240 and has enjoyed two 20-win seasons over her coaching days. She entered 2008-09 with a 246-234 career record. The Bulldogs' trio of wins so far this season has Burke just one away from the landmark win.

STARTING LINEUP GETS A FACELIFT
After a loss at the hands of University of Rhode Island on Nov. 28, the Bulldog starting lineup got a facelift for the next day's contest against the Big Red. Three Bulldogs - sophomore Amanda Pierlioni (Plainville, Conn./Plainville) and freshmen Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) and Shannon Wood (Gorham, Maine/Catherine McAuley) - earned their first career start, while junior Jaime Campbell (Springfield, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) got her second career start and first of the 2008-09 season to join O'Keefe on the court for the opening tip.

Only Wood and O'Keefe carried over to the Bulldogs' next game, with senior Cara Johnson (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott), junior Courtney Schermerhorn (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) and sophomore Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) rejoining the starting five. The quintet has stuck entering the holiday tournament.

BRYANT JOINS THE DIVISION I NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
In October of 2007, Bryant University officially accepted an invitation to join the Division I Northeast Conference. The school began a four-year transition in the fall of 2008-09 and become a full member of the Northeast Conference in the fall of 2012-13. Bryant will not be eligible for conference or NCAA postseason play during the four-year transition period. Other members of the Northeast Conference include: Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, Lond Island University, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (NY), St. Francis (PA) and Wagner.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Chace Athletic Center has been kind to the Bulldog women in the past, but it will have less chances to be lucky this season in Division I. The women host just eight home contests, but are 1-0 in the safe confines of the Chace Athletic Center after Monday's win over St. Francis (NY). The Bulldogs won't return home again until January 2009 when they host back-to-back home contests to open the new year, first welcoming St. Bonaventure on Friday, January 2 at 1 p.m. before playing host to Colgate on Monday, January 5 at 7 p.m.

CROSSING ENEMY LINES
Including members from Bryant's future home in the Northeast Conference as well as Independents, the Bulldogs will compete against seven different Division I conferences in 2008-09. Here is how they've fared so far.
Bryant vs. Division I conferences:
  America East: 1-1
  Atlantic 10: 0-1
  Independent: 0-0
  Ivy League: 0-1
  MEAC: 0-0
  Northeast Conference: 2-1
  Patriot League: 0-2

NO TIME TO WAIT
On November 14, the 2008-09 women's basketball team joined the women's soccer team and women's volleyball team as the only Bulldog programs to get their-ever first Division I win in their first DI contest with a 69-66 win over UNH. Kelsey O'Keefe scored a season-high 17 points in the contest on four three-pointers and 6-for-15 total shooting from the floor while Siamone Bennett and Kristin Mraz also scored in the double digits with 15 and 13 points, respectively. O'Keefe and senior Cara Johnson paced the team on the boards, each collecting seven.

OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
Senior Cara Johnson and junior Kelsey O'Keefe have been named the 2008-09 team captains.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs next return home to host a pair of home contests - just the second and third of the year - at the Chace Athletic Center. Bryant first plays host to St. Bonaventure in a Jan. 2 doubleheader (the Bryant men follow, taking on Yale) at 1 p.m. before welcoming Colgate to Smithfield, R.I. on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.

MAPPING IT OUT
Despite its home in Smithfield, R.I., Bryant boasts no homegrown talent on its 2008-09 roster. Instead, the Bulldogs hail from five different states, with six players coming to Douglas Pike from Massachusetts and seven from the tri-state area. The Bay Staters make up much of the junior class (Schermerhorn, O'Keefe, Campbell, Mayshar) and add senior Fontaine and frosh Cowen, while five (Bennett, Mraz, Johnson, Dessingue, Stahura) call New York home. The remainder of the Bryant roster come from Connecticut (Reynolds), New Jersey (Hudspeth) and Maine (Wood).

BULLDOGS ON THE AIR
Fans can catch all of the action this year by logging onto www.bryantbulldogs.com to watch all Bryant home games live online, courtesy of Penn Atlantic. Also this year, track each game live online for free with LIVE STATS by visiting www.bryantbulldogs.com and clicking the Live Stats link.