Monday, December 01, 2008
O'KEEFE SCORES 1000TH POINT AS
BRYANT TOPS ST. FRANCIS (NY), 53-50, IN 2008-09 HOME OPENER MONDAY
NIGHT
Boxscore
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Led by junior co-captain Kelsey
O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.), who with her first basket of the
night became the 19th player in women's basketball
program history to reach 1,000 career points, the Bryant University
women's basketball team topped Northeast Conference opponent St.
Francis (NY), 53-50, Monday in its first-ever Division I home
opener at the Chace Athletic Center.
O'Keefe's layup, fed by junior Courtney Schermerhorn
(Lowell, Mass.), fell in 43 seconds into Monday night's
contest to vault her into the 1,000-point club and make the score
5-1 in the home team's favor.
Bryant would keep the lead - thanks in part to four
three-pointers, two from frosh Shannon Wood (Gorham,
Maine) - through the end of the frame, going up by as many
as 10 before taking a 30-25 advantage into the locker room at the
half.
Another shot from long distance with 18:38 to go after the break
gave the Bulldogs (3-4) back the 10-point edge, 35-25, before the
St. Francis (0-6) cut that lea back to five on a Kara Ayers trey.
But the visiting Terriers got the score to within one with 14:17
showing on the clock after a midrange jumper from Karla Babica, and
took their first lead of the game at 11:18, 42-41, on a layup from
Kendra Williams.
The visitors grew their lead to three at the 8:10 mark after
another three from Ayers, but the home team would not go down
without a fight, tying the game at 44-44 and again at 47-47 thanks
to a three-point play from junior Jaime Campbell
(Springfield, Mass.) and a shot from downtown out of the
arms of O'Keefe.
Bryant regained the lead with just under four minutes to play
off an O'Keefe layup, and kept it for good, eventually taking a
53-50 win in the 2008-09 home opener.
O'Keefe's 15 points led the game while Wood chipped in 11 of her
own in a career-high 39 minutes of play. The rookie also dished out
a game-high seven assists with four steals and perfect 3-for-3
shooting from beyond the arc. Wood would go 4-for-6 on the day.
O'Keefe and sophomore Siamone Bennett (Newburgh,
N.Y.) each collected a team-best eight boards on the
night.
Williams paced the Terriers with 14 points, while Kristin
Leitheuser knocked down 12 points with a game-high nine rebounds.
Bryant returns to the court Friday when it travels to Bethlehem,
Pa. to take on Lehigh University in a 7 p.m. matchup.
