Terriers come to town for Saturday 1 p.m. tip

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bryant University women's basketball team returns home for a four-game home stint, beginning with St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES

THE SERIES
This contest marks the 15th meeting between the Bulldogs and Terriers with the series in Bryant's favor, 10-4. The Terriers have won the last two matchups, finding their first-ever win over Bryant in Brooklyn Heights earlier this season.

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
Sitting seventh in the conference, one game behind the Bulldogs, the Terriers average stats in correlation to their place in the standings. Their best finish is second in free throw percentage behind Bryant at 73.4 percent shooting from the line. The Terries sit eighth in the NEC in scoring offensive, averaging 57.9 points per game and are only one-of-three teams to average a positive rebounding margin at +0.5 per game.

St. Francis Brooklyn is led offensively by Olivia Levey, who averages 11.3 points per game, placing her 12th in the league in scoring. Also making the NEC top-30 scoring list is Maria Palarino and Alex Delaney, who average 10.7 and 9.7 points per game, respectively. Palarino leads the team with 49.4 percent shooting from the floor, while Levey tops the unit with a 79.4 percent shooting mark from the line.

LAST VS. THE TERRIERS
The Terriers led by as much as 29 points, but the Bulldogs opened the final quarter on a 16-0 run, including six points from the line. The Bulldogs' full-court press helped revamp the defense, as Bryant slowed St. Francis down, holding the hosts scoreless for 6:53 in the fourth. Bryant scored a quarter-high 20 points in the fourth, while holding St. Francis Brooklyn to eight, but the hosts lead was too big, as they went on to win, 63-47.

AT THE POUND
The Bulldogs hold the best home record in the league at 6-2, which boasts well for the Black and Gold, as they play five of their final six regular season games at home. In the first meetings with the final six teams, Bryant went 2-4.

WATCH ME NAY-NAY
Junior Naomi Ashley led the Bulldogs with 15 points at Mount St. Mary's, marking the second time in her career leading Bryant in scoring. Ashley's second-half efforts, including 10 points and four steals helped Bryant comeback from a 16-point deficit, taking the lead with nearly five minutes to play, but Mount regained the lead, winning, 61-53. Ashley scored six-straight points and nine total points in the fourth quarter to help lift Bryant to a 50-48 victory over FDU. Ashley put up a career-high 17 points in Bryant's win over Wagner, as she connected on 6-of-7 from the floor, the highest shooting percentage of any Bulldog this season when hitting five or more field goals. The guard also went 5-for-6 from the line, while grabbing eight assists and two steals. The Bulldogs are 4-2 when Ashley has scored in double figures.

TURNING THE TIDE FROM DEEP
The Bulldogs have shot under 30 percent from three in 14-of-23 games this season, hitting less than five from deep in all 14 games. In Bryant's worst performance from deep, the team went 1-for-16 from behind the arc in the season opener at Vermont. After facing the program's worst three-point shooting percentage in Division I for the last several weeks, the Bulldogs have gone 12-for-33 (36.4 percent) in the past two games, now averaging 27 percent from deep. The improved outside shooting has moved the Black and Gold ninth in the league in three-point percentage, while remaining last in threes made in a game at 3.74.