February 2, 2009
BULLDOGS TRY TO GET WIN OVER ROBERT MORRIS MONDAY NIGHT ON ROAD; TIPOFF IS 7 P.M.
BRYANT BULLDOGS
UPDATE
The Bulldogs continue their Pennsylvania roadtrip with a Monday
night meeting with Robert Morris University. In Bryant's first
faceoff on its current four-game road stint, the Bulldogs fell to
NEC opponent Saint Francis (PA), but scored a season-high points
total, falling 80-75. Bryant was led by its two captains, in
particular senior captain Cara Johnson, who scored a career-high 25
points in the loss. Junior co-captain and leading scorer Kelsey
O'Keefe fell just one rebound short of her fourth-straight
double-double, recording 24 points with nine boards.
On the year, O'Keefe's 15.3 points per game average paces the Bulldogs, while her 8.3 per outing off the glass is also a team high. The big forward shoots 73.1 percent from the line - bested only by junior point guard Kristin Mraz's 73.9 percent success rate - and shoots almost 37 percent from long range (33-for-90). Mraz has handed out a team-best 48 helpers so far this season while sophomore Siamone Bennett has a squad-high 28 blocks.
THE GAME
Monday's 7 p.m. game is the first-ever meeting between Bryant and
future Northeast Conference foe Robert Morris, and is the second of
six-straight contests against NEC rivals.
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS (11-10)
Winners of six straight, the Colonials look to make it seven hot
off a 61-55 win over Monmouth University Saturday afternoon.
NEC Player of the Week Sade Logan scored a game-best 21
points, 12 of them coming from the line, while Kendra Williams also
scored in a double-digit tally with 19 points and a team-best seven
boards.
Logan, a preseason all-conference pick, averages 21.2 points per game to lead the Colonials, while two others also pace a double-digit score tally (Monet Johnson with 16.2 ppg and Williams with 10.5 ppg). Monet leads RMU on the glass, pulling down just under 10 rebounds per outing (9.7), while Williams's 103 assists nearly double any other on the team. Grace Williams has 19 total blocks on the season while Kendra Williams has recorded 47 steals.
LAST TIME OUT
The Bryant University women's basketball team played the definition
of an up-and-down basketball game Saturday afternoon, but came up
just short to St. Francis University as they fell, 80-75, in
Loretto, Pennsylvania despite co-captains Kesley O'Keefe (Warren,
Mass. / Quaboag) and Cara Johnson (Endicott, N.Y. / Union Endicott)
combining for 49 points.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? BRYANT at SAIT FRANCIS (PA)
[1/31/09]
Johnson scored a career-high 25 points while O'Keefe tallied her
fifth 20-plus point game with 24. The junior forward also had nine
rebounds, coming just one shy of her sixth double-double and
third-straight.
A back-and-forth first half ended with St. Francis University
(7-13) taking a slight, 33-31, advantage into the locker room,
forcing 13 Bulldog turnovers in the half while holding an 18-10
scoring advantage in the paint. Bryant shot 50 percent from the
floor including four-of-six from beyond the arc in the first twenty
minutes.
Neither team seemed to be able to find an edge at the
beginning of the game, with two ties and eight lead changes over
the first eight and a half minutes.
The Bulldogs (6-13) made the first run of the contest,
scoring seven-straight points including a lay-in from Siamone
Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y. / Newburgh Free Academy), a jumper from
Johnson and a top of the key three from O'Keefe, giving Bryant a
19-13 lead with 10:05 to go in the first half.
Johnson paced Bryant with nine points in the frame while
playing in all twenty minutes. O'Keefe went into the break with
seven points and four boards, while Bennett also had four boards to
compliment her six points.
A transition bucket plus a foul by Lekia Cowen (Hopedale,
Mass. / Hopedale) gave Bryant the biggest lead for either side of
the half at 29-22 with a little over five minutes showing on the
clock.
Another two from Bennett kept the lead at seven, giving
Bryant a 31-24 lead with 4:38 to go. But that would be the last
points of the half for the Bulldogs, as the Red Flash went on a 9-0
run to take a two point lead before halftime. Samantha Leach led
the run, scoring eight points in the final five minutes, leading
all scorers with 13 points at the break. Leach's two with 24 ticks
left gave St. Francis its first lead since the 13:10 mark.
The Bulldogs wasted no time in tying the game coming out of
halftime, as Johnson hit a driving lay-up off the glass just 50
seconds into the frame, knotting the score at 33 apiece.
The second half mirrored the first, as the two squads
continued to stay with each other basket-for-basket, with three
more ties and eight lead changes through the first 7:36. Bryant
regained the lead on a right-wing trey from O'Keefe, taking a 38-35
lead with 18:09 to go in the game. O'Keefe scored 11 of the
Bulldogs' first 15 points in the second half.
St. Francis caught fire from the outside midway through the
half, connecting on three-straight from downtown to go on an 11-3
run and take a 57-51 advantage with 10:24 left on the clock.
A jumper from the left side by Johnson put an end to the run,
and began a stretch that saw the senior captain score ten of the
next 13 Bulldog points, as Jaime Campbell (Springfield, Mass. /
Minnechaug Regonal) scored the other three from the free-throw
line.
Leading by four points, Whitney Robinson drew the fourth foul
on O'Keefe while getting fouled, sending the Bulldogs' leading
scorer to the bench at the 9:10 mark. An offensive rebound and
put-back by Leach on the ensuing Red Flash possession gave St.
Francis its biggest lead of the game at eight with 9:04 left.
Robinson tallied 11 points in 11 minutes and was one of five
Red Flash players to register double figures. Freshman guard
Brittany Lilley paced the St. Francis offense with 20 points for
the game on 7-for-12 shooting. As a team, the Red Flash shot 63
percent from the floor in the second half and 50 percent for the
game.
The Bulldogs continued to scratch and claw their way back
into the game, as Johnson knocked down a three with 7:10 to go to
cut the St. Francis lead back down to five.
The lead hovered around six until O'Keefe returned to the
lineup and scored four-straight on back-to-back possessions to
bring Bryant within four with 4:23 remaining.
Another Robinson two extended the lead to six before Courtney
Schermerhorn (Lowell, Mass. / Lowell) picked the perfect time to
score her first points of the game, drilling a deep three from the
right corner to bring Bryant all the way back to within three at
the 3:48 mark.
Two straight stops by the Bulldogs, set the game up for a
great finish, as Schermerhorn found a cutting Johnson at the
free-throw line for an open jumper, cutting the deficit to one at
74-73 with 2:46 left.
But the Red Flash would respond on the very next possession,
as Britney Hodges found space on the left wing and connected on a
three, staking St. Francis once again to a four point lead.
There was no quit in the Bulldogs though, as tremendous
hustle on the next two possessions, including grabbing
three-straight offensive boards with less than a minute to go,
allowed Bryant to keep possession and eventually get the ball to
O'Keefe in the paint for a left-handed hook shot in the paint,
making the score 77-75 with 31.3 seconds on the clock.
The Bulldogs were forced to foul Hodges on the inbounds pass,
and the junior stepped up to the line and hit two big free-throws
to extend the lead back to four at 79-75 and make it a two
possession game with 29.2 ticks to go.
Looking to get the ball inside, Schermerhorn went hard to the
hoop but did not get the foul call with the clock winding down, and
the Red Flash grabbed possession with less than ten seconds left.
Bryant fouled Hodges again with 7.1 seconds left, as she knocked
down one of two to give St. Francis the five point victory, as
there was only time for one last deep three for the Bulldogs that
was just off the mark.
The Bulldogs shot 47.4 percent for the game and only
committed five turnovers in the second half, but had trouble
slowing down the Red Flash attack. St. Francis has now won
four-straight games.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
The combination of Johnson and O'Keefe accounted for 49 points -
more than half of the Bulldogs' total tally. But the 75
points-scored was a season high for a team that is steadily
improving.
FEELING HOT HOT HOT
Despite closing January with a 2-6 record, the Bulldogs can thank
juniors Kristin Mraz and Kelsey O'Keefe for keeping the games
close. Mraz, a junior guard, caught fire in the month's early
games, averaging a second-best 9.8 points per game before the
Dartmouth loss after getting just 5.7 points per outing before the
new year. Mraz shot 43.2 percent from the floor (16-of-37), hitting
a team-best 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from long distance, 90.9 percent
from the line (10-of-11) and averaging 29.2 minutes a game through
the month's first five bouts. She has dished out a team-high 24
assists with eight steals and collected 23 rebounds in January.
O'Keefe has recorded five double-doubles so far in 2009, averaging
18.3 points per game over the month of January. The junior forward
and co-captain shot a team-best 54.4 percent (56-for-103) from the
floor, including 45.5 percent from downtown (15-of-33). She pulled
down 9.6 per game off the glass with a squad-high nine steals, and
recorded back-to-back 26-point outings.
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Junior co-captain Kelsey O'Keefe and sophomore forward Siamone
Bennett were named to the Fordham Holiday Tournament all-tournament
team for their performances over the two-day classic Dec. 28 and
29. O'Keefe, who led the team in points both games, averaged 15.5
points per contest, while Bennett averaged 13.5 points per outing.
BURKE EARNS 250TH CAREER VICTORY
With a first-round win over Colgate University at the Fordham
Holiday Classic on Dec. 28, 18-year head coach Mary Burke earned
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 252-247 and has enjoyed two 20-win seasons over her
coaching days. She entered 2008-09 with a 246-234 career record.
The Bulldogs' have earned six wins so far this season to get Burke
to the landmark victory.
BABY GRAND
With a layup 43 seconds into Dec. 1'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 1,210 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 NAMED TO 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.
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 and are 3-2 in
the safe confines of the Chace Athletic Center. The Bulldogs hosted
St. Francis (NY) on Dec. 1, getting their first Division
I home win, and returned home in January 2009 where they fell
to St. Bonaventure in the first game of back-to-back home contests
to open the new year. But Bryant got back to winning with a 63-53
topping of Colgate at home.
The Bulldogs are also shooting better in Smithfield, connecting on 40.6 percent of shots from the floor at home as compared to 37.5 percent away from the Chace Athletic Center. Bryant also converts nearly 40 percent (39.7) of 3-pointers at home, connecting on just 27.5 percent on the road.
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: 0-3
Independent: 1-0
Ivy League: 0-4
MEAC: 0-0
Northeast Conference: 2-2
Patriot League: 2-3
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 play out the remainder of a four-game road trip,
taking on Quinnipiac on Feb. 7 at noon before travelling to
Monmouth for a 7 p.m. bout on Feb. 9.
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 six 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 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.
