Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Box Score

BULLDOGS BATTLE INTRASTATE RIVAL BROWN INTO OVERTIME BUT COME UP JUST SHORT, 79-72

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Forty minutes wasn't enough to decide tonight's intrastate rivalry as the Bryant University women's basketball team overcame a 12 point deficit to tie the game with just 49 seconds remaining in regulation. The battle continued in the extra period but Brown was able to come away with a slim 79-72 victory.

The Bulldogs (1-3) were led once again by sophomore Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) who scored a new career-high 15 points including a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line. Cowen added eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. A trio of Bulldogs followed Cowen with 11 points each, Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y.), Kristin Mraz (Johnson, N.Y.) and Courtney Schermerhorn (Lowell, mass.). Senior captain Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.), who was playing in her first game of the 2009-10 season, recorded nine points in the contest which puts her in fourth place all-time with an even 1400 points. Her game-tying layup with 1:28 remaining in the contest was the bucket that passed former Bulldog Ali Curry.

The Bears were led offensively by Lindsay Nickel, who went 7-12 from the field and 5-8 from beyond the arc. Nickel totaled 19 points.

The Bulldogs held a one point lead with 6:30 seconds remaining in the first half when the Bears (2-2) went on their run. In the next four minutes, Brown rattled off 14 unanswered points to take an 11 point lead which they held onto for the remainder of the half.  

In the second stanza, Bryant slowly crawled back into the game and was able to tie the game on the O'Keefe layup. Just 20 seconds later Nickel was able to hit her fifth three-pointer of the game for the Bears to take a three point lead with just over one minute to play. Following a Bryant timeout, a Courtney Schermerhorn three-pointer was able to knot things up for the fifth time of the game with just 49 seconds remaining.

After outscoring the bears 40-29 in the second half, the Bulldogs seemed to have all the momentum going into the overtime period. Free-throws played a crucial role in overtime as Brown shot 62.5 percent (5-8) compared to Bryant's 16.7 percent (1-6) from the charity stripe. The Bears' Hannah Passafuime scored seven overtime points as Brown outscored the Bulldogs 16-9 in extra time to earn their second consecutive victory over a Northeast Conference team.

After the holiday, the Bulldogs return to action on Sunday, Nov. 29 when they travel to upstate New York to face St. Bonaventure at 1 p.m. Last season, Bryant lost to the Bonnies 67-58.