February 13, 2010

Boxscore

O'KEEFE NETS 25 SECOND-HALF POINTS, BULLDOGS DROP LAST SECOND BATTLE WITH FIRST-PLACE COLONIALS, 74-72

SMITHFIELD, RI - After being down 15 points at the halfway point, Senior tri-captain Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) and the Bulldogs battled all the way back but fell just short as Robert Morris converted a last second shot to win 74-72 on Saturday at the Chace Center.

Robert Morris (18-7, 13-1 NEC) remains in first place in the conference with the victory over the Bulldogs (11-14, 8-6). Bryant came into the game tied for fourth in the NEC. The Colonials outshot the Black and Gold 44.4 percent to 39 percent in the game. However, the Bulldogs made a season-high 14 3-pointers.

O'Keefe led all scorers with 33 points, good enough for the second-best performance of her career. She was 11-22 from the field and knocked down a career-best eight 3-pointers. Fellow senior captain Kristin Mraz (Johnstown, N.Y.) was the only other Bulldog to tally double-figures as she recorded 14 in the contest, 11 of which came in the first half. Mraz added a career-high nine assists.

RMU had four players score in double-figures and were led by 18 points from Vega Gimeno-Martinez. She was 4-7 from long range. The Colonials bench outscored the Bulldogs 30-13 in the game and they won the points off turnovers battled by a 28-8 margin.

O'Keefe kicked off the action in a familiar way for the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon as she hit a 3-point bucket just five seconds into the game. The captain continued the good shooting by converting her first three shots, including another 3-pointer, and scoring Bryant's first eight points. O'Keefe's eight-point start to the game gave her squad an 8-4 lead just two minutes into the contest.

The Bulldogs and Colonials traded baskets over the next seven minutes as things were all tied up at 21 with 10:55 to go in the half, but that would be where Bryant would stall. The Black and Gold went just under five minutes without a bucket but played good defense allowing Robert Morris to score only eight points in the Bulldogs' shooting drought.

Mraz broke up the Colonials' run with a 3-point bucket with 6:40 remaining in the period. Another three by Mraz at the 4:08 mark brought things back to 30-36. The Robert Morris' bench came up huge in the half, mostly in the last four minutes of play, as they went on a 13-4 run to close out the half and take a 49-34 lead into the locker room.

The Colonials' bench outscored the Bulldogs' 25-7 in the first 20 minutes of play and outscored Bryant 12-0 on points off turnovers. Mraz led the way for Bryant in the half scoring 11 points.

Robert Morris opened the second half by making good on two Bulldog turnovers en route to a quick 5-0 run to take a 54-34 lead.

Bryant responded shortly after as O'Keefe poured in the first 14 points of the half for the Bulldogs to bring the Bulldogs back to within 11 points at 59-48 with just under 16 minutes remaining in the second. The captain started 5-6 from the field in the second half including knocking down three 3-pointers.

The Colonials held the Bulldogs scoreless for the next four minutes before O'Keefe struck again. The senior nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to bring her team with nine points again at 63-54 with 10 minutes left on the clock. With those two shots O'Keefe had scored the first 20 Bulldog points of the second half.

Another Bryant player didn't score a field goal until the nine minute mark of the second half when Soper hit a fast break layup following a steal.

O'Keefe capped a 16-1 run to bring the Bulldogs within one point at the 6:30 mark with her sixth three of the half and 30th point of the game.

The Colonials maintained a slim lead until the four-minute mark when sophomore Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass) made a nice pass underneath to classmate Brittany Stahura (Amsterdam, N.Y.) who converted the easy layup to tie the game at 67 apiece.

Robert Morris went on a quick 5-0 run to take the 72-67 lead but Mraz struck again to bring the game within two points at 72-70 with her fourth 3-pointer of the game. Cowen followed that by two free throws and tied things up again with a minute and a half remaining.

With less than 30 seconds remaining on the clock, the Colonials' Angela Pace held the ball until the shot clock was in single digits. When the shot clock hit nine seconds Pace drove to the lane and put up a fade-away jumper over the outstretched arm of O'Keefe. The ball made it just over the rim and swished through the hoop to put RMU up 74-72 with eight seconds left on the clock.

Bryant inbounded the ball to Mraz who drove to the right baseline and put up a prayer from about 12 feet but it came up just short as the Bulldogs dropped a heart-breaker to the Colonials.

The Bulldogs will hit the road for a two-game road-trip next week as they travel to Staten Island, N.Y. on Thursday, Feb. 18 when they take on the Wagner Seahawks at 5 p.m. They will then travel to Emmitsburg, Md. for a date with the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 3 p.m.