February 10, 2007
BRYANT WOMEN FALL TO AIC 52-45
Northeast-10 Conference Women's
Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Freshman Kelsey O'Keefe scored 10 points
and grabbed eight rebounds but cold shooting and costly turnovers
proved too much to overcome as the Bryant women's basketball team
saw its six-game win streak snapped at the hands of No. 15 AIC
Saturday afternoon in Butova Gym.
Bryant (16-8, 12-7 NE-10) managed just one field goal in the
first 14 minutes of the second half in falling behind 40-27 with a
little over six minutes left. After Erin Murphy's basket and
free throw with 16:04 left, the Bulldogs had plenty of
opportunities to score against the Yellow Jackets but nothing would
fall.
A Jamie Campbell (5 points, 8 rebounds) three-point play
underneath at 5:40 helped snap the field goal drought as the
Bulldogs pulled back to within 40-30. A basket and free throw
by Lynne-Ann Kokoski followed by three-pointers from O'Keefe and
Joanna Skiba helped the Bulldogs close the gap but it was not
enough as AIC, behind 18 points and 17 rebounds from Alexis Castro
held on.
For Bryant, the 45 points were a season low but the 51 points
scored by AIC were the fewest scored by a Bryant opponent in a loss
this season. AIC was held to 32 percent shooting in the game
and Bryant's defense forced 18 turnovers, but 19 turnovers by the
Bulldogs were too much to overcome.
In the first half, Bryant trailed 21-11, but put together an 8-2
run late in the half to close to within 23-19. A Joanna Skiba
drive and bucket off the glass followed by a Lauren Rubenoff
baseline basket helped key the spurt.
But AIC (19-4, 14-4 NE-10), winners of seven-straight, would
answer with a 7-2 run of its own to close out the half and race
into the locker room at the break leading 30-21.
The Bulldogs made just 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) from the floor and
turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, resulting in 11
AIC points.
The Bulldogs will return to action this Wednesday night with a
Northeast-10 Conference game at Saint Michael's College
(Vt.).
