BULLDOGS LOOK FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN, VISIT SACRED HEART SATURDAY AT 1:00 P.M.
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bryant University women's basketball team will look to pick up a third straight win when it travels to Fairfield, Conn. Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. matchup against Northeast Conference foe Sacred Heart at the William H. Pitt Center. Follow all the action through 'live stats' or a live webcast on www.sacredheartpioneers.com.
THE SERIES
Saturday's game will be the 13th meeting all-time between the two programs as the Bulldogs and Pioneers have a squared off nine times at the Division II level before Sacred Heart made the jump to D-1 in 1999. The Bulldogs currently hold a 7-5 lead in the series but have dropped the last three matchups, all at the D-1 level. In last year's meeting at the William H. Pitt Center, Bryant fell, 77-68, despite double-figure scoring efforts by three players including 15 points from then-sophomore Brittany Stahura. The Bulldogs also fell at home, 76-64, on Jan. 14 at the Chace Athletic Center.
BRYANT LAST TIME OUT
Down by one point with five seconds left in the game, junior Brittany Stahura stepped up to the charity stripe and drilled a pair of free throws to give the Bryant University women's basketball team the late lead and eventual victory as the Bulldogs downed Long Island, 45-44, Monday night at the Chace Athletic Center.
The late-game heroics by Stahura were set up on the previous Bryant (5-10, 2-2 NEC) possession when sophomore Katie Whittington hit a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left on the clock to pull the Bulldogs within one, 44-43. Following Stahura's free throws, Kiara Evans made a driving run to the basket in the final seconds of the contest but her layup rimmed out, allowing the Bulldogs to pick up their second-straight conference victory.
Stahura's clutch free shots capped off a big day for the junior, who matched a career-high with 15 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Siamone Bennett also recorded double-figures with 10 points and seven boards while freshman Naana Ankoma-Mensa added eight rebounds.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart is 9-6 on the season and 3-1 in the Northeast Conference after falling at Monmouth, 55-37, Monday Night for its first conference loss of the season. The Pioneers are averaging 59.0 points per game and allowing 58.1 ppg for the third-best scoring margin in the conference. Junior Callan Taylor leads the team with 14.1 points per game while senior Alisa Apo is also averaging double-figure scoring with 11.8 ppg. Taylor is also the team's top rebounder with 7.3 boards per contest.
BRYANT vs. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The Bulldogs evened up their NEC record at 2-2 after a pair of back-to-back home wins over St. Francis (NY) and Long Island last weekend. Bryant first knocked off the Terriers, 59-48, on Jan. 8 before they downed the Blackbirds, 45-44, Jan. 10 in dramatic fashion. Now in their third year at the Division I level, the Bulldogs have put together a 17-16 record against members of the Northeast Conference since 2008. In two years, Bryant has yet to have a losing record against the NEC after going 6-6 in its inaugural DI season and 10-8 last winter. Additionally, the Bulldogs closed out the NEC slate in strong fashion last season, winning nine out of their final 15 contests.
ANY GIVEN MONDAY
Bryant's victory over Long Island on Jan. 10 marked the first time in program history the Bulldogs have knocked off a Northeast Conference preseason No. 1 ranked team since making the transition to Division I in 2008. According the NEC preseason coaches' poll, the Blackbirds were picked to top the league with six first-place votes while the Bulldogs were selected to finish eighth.
TALE OF TWO HALVES
After scoring 29 points in the first half for a six-point halftime lead against Long Island Monday night, the Bulldogs scored just 16 points in the second stanza for the third-straight game. In comparison between the two halves, Bryant's shooting percentage dipped from 41.4 percent in the first half to 15.6 in the second while its free throw percentage went from 80 percent to 33.3.
COOL AND COLLECTED
Brittany Stahura enjoyed an impressive performance against Long Island Monday as the junior sunk a pair of game-winning free throws with five seconds left to play to give Bryant the late lead and eventual victory. Her heroic efforts at the charity stripe were all the more impressive considering she was 3-for-8 on free throw attempts at that point. Stahura went on to match a career-high in scoring with 15 points and also pulled down eight rebounds in Bryant's fourth home win of the season.
PICKPOCKETS
In 15 games this season, the Bulldogs lead the NEC with 148 steals, averaging 9.87 steals per game, with the next closest team being Saint Francis (PA) at 9.25 steals per game. Leading the way is sophomore Danielle Douglas, who ranks first in the NEC with a remarkable 2.57 thefts per game, including a trio of five-steal games against Dartmouth, Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis (NY).
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND
With 785 career points, Siamone Bennett needs just 15 tallies to reach the 800-point plateau and with 578 rebounds, the senior needs 18 boards to move up to the No. 5 spot in the program's rebounding ranks. Bennett is enjoying another solid season for the Bulldogs as she ranks second on the team in both scoring (9.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg). Her signature game of the season came at home against Maine as she scored a season-high 22 points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds. The Newburgh, N.Y. native also ranks sixth in the NEC with 1.13 blocks per game and is the second-best shot-blocker in Bryant history with 122 career rejections.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Bulldogs have been masters of the glass this season, especially on the offensive end, as the team has outrebounded their opponents in 11 out of 15 games. As a team, Bryant tops the NEC with 16.80 offensive rebounds per game while Brittany Stahura and Siamone Bennett rank second and third with an average of 3.73 and 3.40 offensive rebounds per game, respectively.
UP NEXT
The Black and Gold continue with their trip through the Constitution State when they visit Quinnipiac on Monday, Jan. 17 for a 1:00 p.m. at the TD Bank Sports Center. From there, rounds out the month with four-straight home games.