January 10, 2009

BRYANT DROPS HEARTBREAKER TO INTRASTATE RIVAL BROWN, 64-62, SATURDAY AFTERNOON ON ROAD

Boxscore

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- With 11 seconds remaining in a 62-61 game that favored Brown University, Bryant's top free throw shooter Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) went to the line for a pair of free throws. The first fell, but not the second, knotting the game at 62-62. And while the shot completed a season-high 26-point performance for the junior, it wouldn't be enough to keep the Bears from scoring on a pair of freebies of their own in the waning seconds of the contest as the Bryant University women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to intrastate rival Brown, 64-62, Saturday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

The Bulldogs (5-10) nearly completed the comeback, using 43.5 percent second-frame shooting to make up a 35-29 halftime deficit, but fell just short in a game that was closely contested until the very last second.

Exiting the halftime break, Bryant started to cut into the Bears' lead 3:14 into the second session, narrowing the home side's lead to 39-36 off a Courtney Schermerhorn (Lowell, Mass.) basket from downtown.

Brown (2-12) made it a six-point advantage again on the next possession, but the Bulldogs continued to threaten, finally capitalizing on a quick transition three from sharpshooting sophomore Lindsey Hudspeth (Mount Laurel, N.J.) to knot the game at 51-51 with 8:52 left in the contest.

And with just under eight minutes, Brown's Natalie Bonds' fifth foul of the game sent leading scorer O'Keefe to the line to try for Bryant's first lead of the game. But when O'Keefe couldn't convert, the Bears reclaimed their edge. The junior forward retied it again seconds later at 53-53, but Brown would then take a one-point lead that they would hold until freshman Shannon Wood (Gorham, Maine) brought the game back to a 58-58 draw making the front end of two from the stripe.

Hudspeth got Bryant its first lead of the outing with 3:43 to play off the back end of two free throws, but Brown took it back with a pair of unanswered baskets for a three-point edge with 1:29 left to play, 62-59. An O'Keefe basket cut that lead to 62-61, and with 11 seconds left, she went to the line with another chance to take the lead.

The junior knotted the game, 62-62, with her first but missed the second, opening up the opportunity for the home side to complete the last-second win.

And with 5.1 seconds to play, that's exactly what Brown did. A foul on Hudspeth sent Courtney Lee to the line, where she hit both to nail down the 64-62 victory.

O'Keefe's 26 points were a game high and season high for both O'Keefe and the Bulldogs. She added 11 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the year and the only one of the contest. The Bulldogs outscored the Bears in the second frame, 33-29, and outshot the home team on the day, 39.3 percent to 35.3 percent. Brown's Karly Grace paced the Bears with 20 points, including going 6-for-10 from beyond the arc.

In the first half, the Bulldogs came out flat, their offense stifled by five early Brown 3-pointers -- four coming from Grace -- to go down, 21-11 with 11:27 to play in the frame. Brown went on an 8-0 run over nearly three minutes in the middle of the half to get the double-digit lead, but Bryant chipped away at that advantage to come back to within a single basket, 25-22 with 7:43 showing, thanks mainly to a pair of Wood treys and the second 3-pointer of the session from O'Keefe.

A second chance basket from Wood, the result of a strong rebounding effort from junior Andrianne Mayshar (West Boylston, Mass.), cut the Bears' lead to just two, 27-25, with just under five minutes to play, but the Bulldogs would score just twice more in the half and allow the home side to get eight to enter halftime down, 35-29.

Bryant shot just 36.4 percent in the opening frame to Brown's 42.4 percent, also getting outrebounded, 24-19. O'Keefe's eight points at the break paced the Bulldogs, while Grace led the game with 14 points off 4-of-7 shooting from downtown.

The Bulldogs now try to get back to winning and will stay on the road for one more contest, travelling to New Haven, Conn. to face off against Yale on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.