Saturday, January 24, 2009

BULLDOGS SLUMP IN SECOND HALF, FALL TO DARTMOUTH, 71-56, SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Boxscore

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Junior Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) recorded her third-straight and sixth double-double of the season Saturday afternoon against Dartmouth College, but it wouldn't be enough to get the Bulldogs back on the side of winning as the Bryant University women's basketball team fell to the Big Green, 71-56, at the Chace Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs (5-12) led at the half, 31-26, after taking their first secure lead of the ballgame 10:27 into the opening frame and building it to as many as eight points with 26 seconds to go before the break.

Bryant took 37.9 percent shooting into the intermission to the 32.3 percent shooting of visiting Dartmouth (6-9), thanks in part to a strong showing from sophomore sharpshooter Lindsey Hudspeth (Mount Laurel, N.J.) (10 points) and 16 points off the bench.

But the Bulldogs floundered to start the second half, failing to register a point until a pair of free throws from Hudspeth more than six minutes into the session. Meanwhile, the Big Green were building a comeback and a lead that would result in a 15-point swing from halftime to the 7:12 mark of the second frame when Dartmouth took a 41-38 advantage.

The Big Green wouldn't release the lead for the remainder of the game, building a double-digit lead with 3:40 showing on the clock before completing the comeback with a 71-56 final tally.

Bryant was outscored, 45-25 in the second half, with the Big Green completing 46.9 percent of shots from the floor in the frame. The Bulldogs were outrebounded, 42-35 on the day.

Brittney Smith scored 24 points to lead all scorers with 15 of them coming in the second frame to spark Dartmouth's strong second-half showing. The Big Green would finish with all five starters in double-digit scoring tallies.

Hudspeth paced the Bulldogs with a career-high 18 points in a career-best 29 minutes of action while O'Keefe earned her third double-double in a row, finishing the game with 16 points and a season- and game-high 14 rebounds. Hudspeth went 8-of-10 from the line with a pair of three-pointers.

The Bulldogs now stay at home for one more game, hosting the New Jersey Institute of Technology Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 7:00 p.m. before making the trek to the Pittsburgh area for a pair of contests versus future Northeast Conference opponents Saint Francis (PA) and Robert Morris University.