SMITHFIELD, RI – Kellie Fournier's (Westport, Mass.) scored a game-high 19 points to lead Bryant to a 47-43 win in the first round of Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Sunday afternoon in the Chace Athletic Center.
With the win Bryant advances to the quarterfinal round to take on No. 2 seed Southern Connecticut. The game will be played at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 1, in New Haven, Connecticut.
Bryant (18-10) and Franklin Pierce (14-14) started the game off slowly with both teams struggling to get things going offensively. With the score tied 13-13, the Bulldogs would put together a 9-2 run to jump out in front, 22-15 with 1:33 to go. The spurt included lay-ups from Jessie Weber (Norwell, Mass.), Joanna Skiba (Providence, RI), and Fournier.
The Ravens finished the half on a 5-0 spurt using a three-pointer and a pair of free-throws by Mollie Stelmack to head into the locker room trailing by just two, 22-20 at the half.
Bryant started the second half on a 13-5 run take a 35-25 lead with 13 minutes left, thanks to a pair of Fournier jumpers and a three from Skiba. But the Ravens would not go away too soon. Franklin Pierce would continue to cut into the lead with inside buckets, and pulling to within three with 1:19 reaming following a Stelmack three-pointer.
The visitors would pull to within two with just 11 seconds left but Fournier sealed the win for the Bulldogs with a pair of free throws.
Along with Fournier's 19, Lindsay Hermann (Bristol, Conn.) finished with 10 points, and Skiba added eight points and six assists. Franklin Pierce was lead by Stelmack's 15 points and Danille D'Ettorre finished with nine.
