February 28, 2009
BULLDOGS HANG TOUGH BUT FALL, 64-50, TO SACRED HEART SATURDAY
AFTERNOON
Boxscore
FAIRFIELD, CONN. - Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren,
Mass.) scored a game-high 20 points, including 12 in the
second half, as the Bulldogs hung tough with a red hot Sacred Heart
team, but fell, 64-50, in Fairfield, Conn. Saturday afternoon. The
loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Bryant, who fell to 6-6
against Northeast Conference opponents.
The win was the 17th straight for the Pioneers
(21-7), who have already clinched their third Northeast Conference
regular season title in the last four year. Sacred Heart has been
unstoppable in conference play, putting up a perfect 17-0 record
with just one game remaining. The last loss for the team came at
Villanova back on December 28.
The Pioneers had four players score in double figures, with
sophomore Alisa Apo leading the way with 15 on the day. Khalia
Cain, Kaitlin Sowinski and Callan Taylor also scored in double
digits, as Sowinski and Taylor both had double-doubles, grabbing 11
and 10 rebounds respectively.
Bryant (11-17) held the Pioneers to just 30.9 percent shooting
for the game, well off their usual pace of 45.5 percent, which
leads the NEC. The Bulldogs also outrebounded Sacred Heart in the
game, 44-43, with Courtney Schermerhorn (Lowell,
Mass.) leading the way with nine boards while Cara
Johnson (Endicott, N.Y.) had eight.
The Bulldogs played tough defense in the first half, holding the
top offensive team in the NEC to 30.6 percent shooting in the first
half, but still trailed, 38-24 at the break. The Pioneers came in
shooting 45.4 percent from the field on the season.
Apo led both teams with ten points at the break, while
pre-season all-NEC selection, Sowinski had six points and seven
boards.
Both teams got off to slow offensive starts, as Bryant missed on
their first eight shots to fall into an early, 9-0 hole before
O'Keefe scored five-straight points to cut the deficit to four with
11:41 remaining. The team finished the half shooting 31 percent
from the floor, but only made one trip to the free-throw line.
After a Schermerhorn three got the Bulldogs to within five at
the 9:31 mark, Sacred Heart went on a 14-3 run to push the lead to
16 at 30-14 with 5:26 to go. The Pioneers would lead by as
many as 17 in the first frame.
Jaime Campbell (Springfield, Mass.) scored
seven of the last ten Bulldog points in the half, putting in a
basket plus a foul to cut the Sacred Heart lead down to 14 as the
teams headed to break. Campbell finished with nine. Bryant
turned the ball over 17 times in the first half, as the Pioneers
converted those into 21 points. The home team was also helped by
11-for-12 shooting from the charity stripe while Bryant was just
1-for-1.
The Bulldogs started the second half on a 10-2 run, as O'Keefe
scored the first eight Bulldog points to get the black and gold as
close as six, trailing 40-34 with 14:15 left to play.
The six-point deficit would be as close as Bryant would come,
but they continued to battle hard against the top team in the NEC.
O'Keefe would drain another triple from the top of the key to keep
the deficit at eight with 11:20 remaining.
The lead hovered between eight and ten over the next several
minutes. Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y.) put home
a layup at the 6:55 mark to cut the lead down to eight for the
final time, as Sacred Heart put together a 10-0 run to put the game
away, taking a 61-43 lead with just 3:43 remaining. Cain had five
points in the stretch.
Bryant played the Pioneers even in the second half, as the teams
scored 26 points apiece. O'Keefe had 15 of the 26 Bulldog points,
hitting three threes in the frame. The Bulldogs took much better
care of the ball in the last 20 minutes as well, only turning the
ball over nine times. Schermerhorn scored four of her points in the
second half while Johnson was limited to just three total points
for the game on a trey late in the game.
The Bulldogs play their final game of the season on Monday night
as they travel to Mount St. Mary's to battle the Mountaineers (7
p.m.), closing out their inaugural season in Division I.
