WOMEN FALL TO TOP-SEEDED STONEHILL, 90-79, IN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY AFTERNOON
March 9, 2008
BRYANT FALLS TO TOP-SEEDED STONEHILL, 90-79, IN NORTHEAST-10 CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY
EASTON, Mass. - Despite 27 points from Northeast-10 Second Teamer Kelsey O'Keefe, the sixth-seeded Bryant University women's basketball team fell to top-seeded Stonehill College, 90-79, in Sunday afternoon's Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Championship Game at Merkert Gym.
The Skyhawks (26-4) took advantage of a plague of Bryant turnovers early in the half, going up 17-4 after back-to-back three-pointers from Kristen McWhirter less than six minutes into Sunday's Championship game.
It took Bryant (20-11) the opening seven minutes to adjust to the fast pace set by Stonehill, but three straight treys from sophomore leading-scorer Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) closed the gap to 17-13.
The Bulldogs' 17-7 run from the 14:11 through the nine-minute mark was kicked off by two straight plays that saw senior captain Lynne-Ann Kokoski (Hatfield, Mass.) drive in to the post for a layup and kick it out to O'Keefe on the right side for a trey to move the score to 17-10 in Stonehill's favor.
O'Keefe followed the play with another from downtown - she was 4-of-6 from 3-point land in the half - to narrow the Skyhawks' lead to 17-13 with 12:47 to play.
But Stonehill responded, taking advantage of more Bryant turnovers to go on a 15-1 run of its own from the 7:11 mark through the 5-minute mark, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Erika Stupinski and Ashley Caiafa to close out the run, 39-22.
With halftime approaching, Bryant clawed back in with another streak, this time 13-3 in the Bulldogs' favor to cut Stonehill's lead to 42-35, capped off with a three-pointer from junior Cara Johnson (Endicott, NY) with 2:17 remaining before the break.
But the Skyhawks would take a 47-38 advantage into the locker room on 50 first-half percent shooting, leading Bryant's 40 percent clip. O'Keefe's 16 points paced the game at intermission, with Bethany Tighe leading Stonehill with nine.
Bryant came out in the second half to cut the home team's lead to 54-50 after a 3-point play and bucket from O'Keefe five minutes into the frame, but the Bulldogs quickly found themselves in foul trouble, with freshman Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, NY) and Jamie Campbell (Springfield, Mass.) each getting whistled for their fourth foul in the opening minutes. Kokoski followed quickly with her third, while O'Keefe took her third and fourth in the 12th minute.
An O'Keefe jumper at 10:33 got Bryant the closest since the first half, cutting Stonehill's lead to 60-57. A deep three from Johnson two minutes later brought the Skyhawks' lead to just a basket, 64-62.
But with four Bryant players now with three or more fouls, Stonehill went on a 13-5 tear to run the clock down to 5:22 and re-up its lead to double-digits, 77-67.
Stonehill outscored the Bulldogs, 13-12 in the waning minutes for a 90-79 victory, while O'Keefe and Bennett each fouled out with three minutes to play and Kokoski followed in the final minute. The Skyhawks hit 17-of-18 from the line in the second half, while Bryant outrebounded the home team, 41-36 on the day.
O'Keefe led the game with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting, adding six rebounds. Johnson and Bennett also notched double-digit points, with 17 and 10, respectively. Bennett's eight boards were a game high, while Kokoski dished out a game-high 12 assists.
The Skyhawks shot 50 percent for the game (26-of-52) to Bryant's 37.7 and were led by 23 points from Stupinski. Kelsey Simonds (22 points, 5 rebounds) and Megan Methven (13 points, 4 rebounds) also scored to double-figures.
Bryant now awaits Sunday night's selection show to find out if it will receive an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Audio and video streaming of both the men's and women's basketball selection shows can be accessed by logging on to www.cstv.com/ncaa/divii or http://www.ncaa.com/. Both 64-team brackets will be posted online at www.ncaasports.com/ immediately following the selection show.