BULLDOGS AVENGE FIRST MEETING, DEFEAT FDU 57-53 THURSDAY NIGHT
January 28, 2010
BULLDOGS AVENGE FIRST MEETING, DEFEAT FDU 57-53 THURSDAY NIGHT
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Senior Kelsey O'Keefe (Warren, Mass.) scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for her third double-double of the season to help lead Bryant to a 57-53 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in Northeast Conference action on Thursday night at the Chace Athletic Center.
Bryant (8-12, 5-4 NEC), winners of four of its last five, made 20 of 28 free throws and out-rebounded the Knights 47-37 to earn the victory.
The Bulldogs caught fire right from the start, taking a quick 10-1 lead on the visiting Knights just four minutes into the game. FDU would answer with a 13-4 run to pull back to within 14-12 following a jumper by Mariyah Laury with 11:19 left in the half.
O'Keefe would drain a three on Bryant's next possession to push the Bulldogs back in front 17-12, but a Jasmyra Saunders basket pulled the visitors back to within 21-20 with just over five minutes left before the break. Bryant would score the next eight-straight points to extend its lead and take a 31-25 spread into the locker room at the half.
Coming out to start the second, an O'Keefe basket gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the night, 41-31, but the Knights would start to get hot offensively and used some timely defense to rally back.
Back-to-back steals at midcourt resulted in easy layups by
Saunders, the second at 7:13 gave FDU its first lead of the game,
44-43 with 7:09 remaining. 
Looking to avenge a 20-point loss to the Knights earlier this season, senior Kristin Mraz (Johnstown, N.Y.) drained a key 3-pointer with 2:30 left. Junior Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y.) scored on a nice inside move to give the Bulldogs a 56-53 with a minute to go.
Fairleigh Dickinson (6-14, 2-7) had one final chance to tie the game but a baseline three-point attempt by Jenna Strich was short and Mraz sank one of two free throw attempts at the other end to secure the Bulldog victory.
Mraz finished with nine points and four assists while Bennett had 15 points to lead the Bulldogs. Laury led FDU with 21 points while Alyssa Mayrose was the only other Knight to reach double figures as the junior finished with 10.
"I was very proud to see our girls respond so well tonight after being beat by 20 points at FDU earlier in the season. The team has continued to learn and grow as the season progresses and tonight's win is another example of that," said Coach Mary Burke.
Bryant will host Monmouth University this Saturday at the Chace Athletic Center starting at 1 pm. Coach Mary Burke will unveil the Bryant women's basketball All-Decade team at halftime against Monmouth.