GRESHAM NAMED 2009 ALL-INDEPENDENT HONRABLE MENTION, O'KEEFE EARNS SECOND TEAM ALL-INDEPENDENT SELECTION
Thursday, March 19, 2009
GRESHAM NAMED 2009 ALL-INDEPENDENT HONRABLE MENTION, O'KEEFE EARNS SECOND TEAM ALL-INDEPENDENT SELECTION
SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Bryant University women's basketball junior captain Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) and men's basketball junior Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.)were honored with 2009 Division I All-Independent nods, as selected by the 14 Independent coaches and administrators Wednesday afternoon. The leading scorer for each of their respective teams, O'Keefe was named to the All-Independent Second Team while Gresham earned an Honorable Mention bid.
Just as she did in her previous pair of seasons with the Bulldogs at the Division II level, O'Keefe, a 6-foot-1 forward, was again the driving force behind a Bryant offense that won 11 games in 2008-09.
A dominant power in the league in her first year of Division I play, the big junior captain paced the Bulldogs in points per game for her third-consecutive season, carrying the scoring load by averaging 16.3 points per outing while also contributing the top four single-game performances of the year. The forward's numbers would have ranked sixth in the Northeast Conference in scoring.
O'Keefe fell just one point shy of tying her career-high with a 32-point showing against CCSU on Feb. 14 and presented back-to-back 26-point outings against the Ivy League's Yale and Brown on Jan. 10 and 13. She also chipped in 25 against Robert Morris to open February.
The 19th 1,000-point scorer in program history, O'Keefe scored her 1,000th point with her first basket in a Dec. 1 home win over St. Francis (N.Y.). Her 1,391 career points rank her No. 5 all-time, just seven behind fourth-ranked Ali Curry (1398) and 19 behind No. 3 Stephanie Ladd (1410) with a season of eligibility remaining.
O'Keefe was also the best three‑point shooter on the team, hitting 50-of-137 on the year while shooting 36.5 percent from the behind the arc. Registering double figures in 26 of the team's 29 games, O'Keefe also had a team-best nine double‑doubles, including four in a row mid-season. The Warren, Mass. native scored 20‑plus points seven different times and was regarded as one of the top players in the conference by opposing coaches based on her ability to score both outside and inside all season long. She shot 43.8 percent from the floor on the year.
But that wasn't her only contribution. O'Keefe also pulled down a squad-high 7.8 boards per game, proving her rebounding prowess was just as effective at the NCAA's top level. Her 670 career boards place her fourth on Bryant's all-time list.
O'Keefe led Bryant (11-18) in points 20 times, pacing the Bulldogs on the glass on 17 occasions. She registered team-best assist numbers in nine outings, steals in 10 and blocks in seven. O'Keefe also led the team in made field goals (171; 5.9/game), made 3-point field goals (50), free throw percentage (80-of-103; .777) and minutes played (31.2/game).
Gresham, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, led Bryant (8-21) in scoring in the Bulldogs' first year of Division I play, scoring 13.4 points per game to go along with a team-best 4.7 rebounds.
The top three-point shooter in terms of percentage, Gresham shot with a 36.1 percent success rate from downtown on the season, knocking down a total of 57 threes to help the Bulldogs to eight wins in their first season at the DI level.
Bryant played a grueling schedule to start the season, with games against NCAA tournament qualifiers UConn, Boston College and Maryland, also playing the likes of Iowa, Rutgers and Providence. Gresham averaged 15.8 points and four rebounds against those six schools, including 20.7 against the New England big three of UConn, BC and Providence.
The junior scored in double figures in 21 of the Bulldogs' 29 games, registering a season-high 27 against Monmouth on Feb. 5. Gresham also earned all-tournament accolades for his performance at the Columbia Classic, scoring 25 points against Columbia and 21 against Quinnipiac to help Bryant to its first Division I win.
The 14 DI Independent schools include Bryant, CSU Bakersfield, Chicago State, Houston Baptist, Longwood, NJIT, North Carolina Central, North Dakota, Savannah State, Seattle, South Dakota, SIU Edwardsville, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley. A first and second team -- each consisting of five players not chosen by position -- were selected, as well as an honorable mention squad.