December 3, 2008

BULLDOGS LOOK TO EXTEND WINNING AGAINST WEEKEND OF PATRIOT LEAGUE COMPETITION; FACE LEHIGH FRIDAY AT 7 P.M.

December 3, 2008

BULLDOGS LOOK TO EXTEND WINNING AGAINST WEEKEND OF PATRIOT LEAGUE COMPETITION; FACE LEHIGH FRIDAY AT 7 P.M.

UPDATE
The Bulldogs' homestand was shortlived after getting a 53-50 win over St. Francis (NY) in the 2008-09 home opener Monday night at the Chace Athletic Center, as Bryant heads to eastern Pennsylvania for a set of games against Patriot League opponents. Bryant will open the weekend against Lehigh University and look to extend its winning ways to two-straight in its first visit to Stabler Arena and the Mountain Hawks.

On the year, Bryant is led by 13.6 points per game from junior Kelsey O'Keefe, who joined the 1,000-point club with her first basket in Monday's home-opening win. The co-captain also paces the Bulldogs on the glass, collecting 7.7 per contest while shooting 34.3 (12-for-35) percent from 3-point range. Sophomore Siamone Bennett's eight blocks are a team best, as are the nine steals from frosh Shannon Wood, who is also proving to be strong from beyond the arc, going 3-for-3 on Monday and 5-for-9 on the season. She also paces the Bulldogs in helpers with 19.

THE GAME
Tonight's 7 p.m. matchup is the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Mountain Hawks. It is also the first of three-consecutive games that Bryant will see against the Patriot League, facing off against Lafayette and Colgate in its next bouts.

SCOUTING LEHIGH
The Mountain Hawks gave the Syracuse Orange a run for their money Tuesday night at the Carrier Dome, falling by nine, 69-60, behind 36.8 percent shooting and going 7-for-28 from beyond the arc. Alex Ross, who is second on the team averaging 12.3 points per game, registered a team-high 15 points while Kristen Dalton (9.6 ppg) added 13 points of her own. Lehigh was outrebounded by a bigger Syracuse side, 48-36, with seven boards from Alexa Williams leading the way.

Tricia Smith paces the Mountain Hawks on the glass on the year pulling down 6.4 rebounds per contest, while Erica Prosser serves as leading scorer with 15.7 points per outing. Prosser and Haly Crites both average nearly two steals per game with 13 total while five blocks from Williams are a team-best on the season. Prosser also dishes out the most helpers with 31 on the year.

LEHIGH VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Mountain Hawks 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 Lehigh has fared against future conference opponents so far this year:
11/19 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson Win, 90-54
11/22 vs. St. Francis (PA) Win, 82-62
11/25 vs. Sacred Heart Win, 77-75

LAST TIME OUT
Led by junior co-captain Kelsey O'Keefe, who with her first basket of the night became the 19th player in women's basketball program history to reach 1,000 career points, the Bryant University women's basketball team topped Northeast Conference opponent St. Francis (NY), 53-50, Monday in its first-ever Division I home opener at the Chace Athletic Center.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? BRYANT vs. ST. FRANCIS (12/1/08)
O'Keefe's layup, fed by junior Courtney Schermerhorn (Lowell, Mass.), fell in 43 seconds into Monday night's contest to vault her into the 1,000-point club and make the score 5-1 in the home team's favor.

Bryant would keep the lead - thanks in part to four three-pointers, two from frosh Shannon Wood (Gorham, Maine) - through the end of the frame, going up by as many as 10 before taking a 30-25 advantage into the locker room at the half.

Another shot from long distance with 18:38 to go after the break gave the Bulldogs (3-4) back the 10-point edge, 35-25, before the St. Francis (0-6) cut that lead back to five on a Kara Ayers trey.

But the visiting Terriers got the score to within one with 14:17 showing on the clock after a midrange jumper from Karla Babica, and took their first lead of the game at 11:18, 42-41, on a layup from Kendra Williams.

The visitors grew their lead to three at the 8:10 mark after another three from Ayers, but the home team would not go down without a fight, tying the game at 44-44 and again at 47-47 thanks to a three-point play from junior Jaime Campbell (Springfield, Mass.) and a shot from downtown out of the arms of O'Keefe.

Bryant regained the lead with just under four minutes to play off an O'Keefe layup, and kept it for good, eventually taking a 53-50 win in the 2008-09 home opener.

O'Keefe's 15 points led the game while Wood chipped in 11 of her own in a career-high 39 minutes of play. The rookie also dished out a game-high seven assists with four steals and perfect 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Wood would go 4-for-6 on the day. O'Keefe and sophomore Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y.) each collected a team-best eight boards on the night.

THE HIGHLIGHTS
Apart from O'Keefe's mountainous achievement, freshman Shannon Wood was the highlight of Monday's home-opening win. The rookie had a career day, playing a team-high and career-best 39 minutes, chipping in her first double-figure scoring number (11), with a game-best seven assists and four steals while going 3-for-3 from downtown. All are career highs. The contest was also the Bryant women's first Division I home game in program history.

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.

BURKE NEARS 250TH CAREER VICTORY
With Monday's win over the Terriers, 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 249-238 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.) and freshmen Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) and Shannon Wood (Gorham, Maine) - earned their first career start, while junior Jaime Campbell (Springfield, Mass.) 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, junior Courtney Schermerhorn and sophomore Siamone Bennett rejoining the starting five.

DE-FENSE!
Despite not officially being included in the Division I statistical rankings due to rules for reclassifying institutions, Bryant is holding opponents to just .247 shooting percentage from 3-point land. That number would tie the Bulldogs with Oral Roberts as No. 39 in the country in 3-point field goal defense. Opponents have successfully converted on just 24 of their 97 attempts from 3-point range.

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, the Bulldogs will compete against six 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: 0-0

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. This is the first season as captain for both.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs stay in eastern Pennsylvania to faceoff against Lafayette College on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 1:00 p.m. This will be Bryant's last game before a three-week break from the hardwood. Bryant returns to basketball on Dec. 28 and 29 when they compete in the Fordham University tournament in Bronx, N.Y.

MAPPING IT OUT
Despite its home in Smithfield, R.I., Bryant boasts no homegrown talent on its 2007-08 roster. Instead, the Bulldogs hail from five different states, with six players coming to Douglas Pike from Massachusetts and eight 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 (Pierlioni, 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.