BULLDOGS DROP 74-54 DECISION TO NORTHEAST CONFERENCE FOE SACRED HEART SATURDAY

SMIHFIELD, R.I. – After neck-and-neck play midway through the first half, Sacred Heart picked up the offense and never looked back as the Bryant University women's basketball team fell to the Pioneers, 74-54, in Northeast Conference play Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center.

Sophomore Danielle Douglas (Silver Spring, Md.) provided a bulk of the scoring for the Bulldogs as she netted 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the floor and added three steals. As a team, Bryant (8-18, 5-10 NEC) shot 34.5 percent from the field and outrebounded the Pioneers by a margin of 38-35.  

Erika Norman paced Sacred Heart (16-10, 10-5 NEC) with a game-high 19 points while Maggie Cosgrove and Alexis Campbell added 17 and 11, respectively.

The contest opened with even play in the first nine minutes as both teams struggled to take care of the ball until the Pioneers jumped out to 14-10 lead on a 3-pointer by Kiley Evans at the 10:49 mark. The long range shot kicked off a 10-1 run for the visitors, capped by a Cosgrove trey for the 23-11 advantage with 7:06 remaining. After Meredith Soper (Winthrop, Mass.) ended Bryant's field goal drought with a jumper from the corner, the Bulldogs managed to trim away at the lead with a 10-2 run late in the half as the home side trailed 39-27 at intermission.

Douglas paced the Bulldogs offensively with 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while Evans and Norman each had nine for the visiting squad.

After Bryant kicked off the second half with a jumper from Soper, the Pioneers scored six straight points before Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ontario) muscled in a shot down low to cut the lead to 46-31 with 16:24 left to play. The Bulldogs showed flashes of offense throughout the remainder of the half, highlighted by a pair of baskets underneath from Ankoma-Mensa and Brittany Stahura (Amsterdam, N.Y), but it was not enough to hold off the Pioneers who went on to claim the 74-54 victory.

The Black and Gold will play their home finale on Monday, Feb. 21 when they host Quinnipiac for senior day in a 7:00 p.m. matchup. Prior to the contest, seniors Siamone Bennett (Newburgh, N.Y.) and Lindsey Hudspeth (Mount Laurel, N.J.) will be honored for their four years of dedication to the program.