O'Keefe's 23 Leads Bryant to 83-76 Upset of #24 Saint Rose
BRYANT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
January 6, 2007
Women's Hoops Upsets #24 Saint Rose 83-76
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bryant University Women's Basketball team remained hot Saturday afternoon defeating 24th ranked Saint Rose 83-76 at the Chace Center for its third straight victory and fourth in five games.
After posting a career-high 26 points Wednesday at Merrimack, freshman Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) continued her dominance in the paint scoring 23 in just 20 minutes. She added 12 rebounds for her second career double-double.
O'Keefe scored ten points in the game's first four minutes to give Bryant the early 13-10 lead, but sat out the remaining 16 minutes due to foul trouble.
With Lauren Rubenoff (New Hartford, CT) also in foul trouble, Head Coach Mary Burke turned to freshmen Jamie Campbell (Springfield, Mass.) and Adrianne Mayshar (West Boylston, Mass.) who grabbed a combined eight rebounds in the first half.
Bryant took a 43-35 lead to the locker room but the Golden Knights (11-4, 7-3 NE-10) came storming back, tying the game at 50 after Dana Brown converted a lay-up forcing the Bulldogs to call for time.
The Bulldogs countered immediately, going on a 13-4 run over the next six minutes, capped off by a runner by Lynne-Ann Kokoski (Hatfield, Mass.). Kokoski played the entire second half and 34 minutes overall, scoring eight points and tallying her career high in assists with seven.
The key play in the game came from Erin Murphy (Albany, NY) who drained two consecutive shots in the key, drawing fouls on both shots and converting each into a three-point play. Murphy's second three-point play, with 3:52 to go, gave Bryant the 74-68 lead and forced Saint Rose's star guard Mary Lewis out of the game, after she committed her fifth foul.
Campbell put the game away grabbing an offensive rebound and going strong to the glass for the easy basket to give the Bulldogs the 80-71 lead with 2:09 to play.
Campbell finished with career highs in points (eight), rebounds (ten), and minutes played (15).
Joanna Skiba (Providence, RI) tallied a double-double, scoring 13 while dishing 11 assists.
Skiba and O'Keefe were a dynamic duo for most of the second half.
With the win, Bryant is now 9-5, 5-4 NE-10. They will head to Worcester, Mass. and take on the Assumption Greyhounds, who they beat earlier this season at the Chace Center, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.