Monday, January 05, 2009
BULLDOGS COMPLETE SWEEP OF COLGATE,
TOPPLE RAIDERS, 63-53, MONDAY NIGHT AT HOME
Boxscore
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Led by a 16-point effort from senior
co-captain Cara Johnson (Endicott, N.Y.) and
strong team shooting, the Bryant University basketball team
completed the two-game season sweep of Colgate University with a
63-53 win over the Raiders Monday night at the Chace Athletic
Center.
The Bulldogs (5-8) led nearly the entire outing, getting 44.3
percent shooting from the floor to win Monday's rematch.
Bryant quickly turned a 2-0 opening Colgate (4-11) advantage
into a two-point swing for the home team, 7-5, after a pair of
successful free throws from sophomore Siamone Bennett
(Newburgh, N.Y.) five minutes into the opening frame.
From there, the Bulldogs went on a 10-4 run that ended with a
Kristin Mraz (Johnstown, N.Y.) open layup running
all the way across the baseline for a 17-9 Bulldog edge.
But the Raiders cut it to a two-point lead after a pair of
"and-one" opportunities (one of them successful) to cut the home
advantage to 26-24, and would complete the eight-point comeback on
the next play with 3:14 showing on the clock off a Sami Kozlowski
jumper.
But with two minutes left before the intermission, Mraz broke
the stalemate with a shot from downtown, dished out by freshman
Shannon Wood (Gorham, Maine), to give the Bulldogs
a 29-26 edge.
After another Colgate basket, with just two seconds remaining,
Mraz travelled coast-to-coast for a quick layup, giving Bryant back
a three-point lead to take a 31-28 edge into the locker room at the
half.
In the second session, the Bulldogs allowed the visiting Raiders
to climb back in, taking their first lead since the 18:54 mark of
the first half off a Krista Moser layup with 14:18 to play, 38-37.
But Bryant wouldn't stand for trailing for long, taking back a
single-point edge less than a minute later on a Johnson basket and
never again giving up the lead.
The Bulldogs grew their advantage to six just under halfway
through the frame and would solidify the win on back-to-back threes
from junior Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) with
under five to play.
That lead would grow to 10 before the final buzzer, as the
Bulldogs captured their fifth win of the season and second against
Colgate, 63-53.
Johnson would pace the home side with 16 points, adding seven
boards and a steal in 32 minutes of play, while O'Keefe and Bennett
would also register double-digit scoring with 10 and 12 points,
respectively. Both had a team-best eight rebounds.
The Bulldogs outshot the Raiders from the floor, hitting 44.3
percent to Colgate's 33.9 percent for the contest, and would also
win the rebounds game, 44-40.
Colgate's Tayler Wejnert led all scorers with 17, while Patricia
Oakes pulled down 11 boards.
The Bulldogs next hit the hardwood when they hit the road again
for a three-game stretch in which they stay fairly local. Bryant
first travels to Worcester, Mass. to take on Holy Cross at 7 p.m.
on Jan. 7 before returning to Rhode Island for a 1 p.m. bout with
Brown on Jan. 10. A Jan. 13 date with Yale rounds out the road
trip.
