W. Hoops downed by BC, 68-42

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Bryant University women's basketball team suffered a 68-42 defeat against Boston College on Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum.

The Eagles (2-2) evened up their record on the season while snapping a two-game win streak for the Bulldogs, who move to 3-2 on the season.

The sharp-shooting Eagles were aided by six three-pointers and shot 41.1 percent from the field while holding the Bulldogs to a 17-of-61 (27.9%) clip in field-goal shooting to guide them to their second win of the season.  

Sophomore Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.) led the Bulldogs with 13 points, and for the second straight game the Ontario native missed a double-double effort by one rebound, while classmate Courtney Schissler (Branford, Conn.) tacked on 10 points with a pair of long balls.

After taking a 16-point lead into the break, the Eagles did not wait long to add to that total, jumping out to a 41-18 lead in the opening minutes of the half.  The Bulldogs pulled to within 21 on a turnaround jumper off a set play by junior Katie Whittington (Twinsburg, Ohio), but BC answered right back.  After coming back down the court, Ankoma-Mensa threw up an off-balance layup that found the twine to cut the lead to 43-22 before the first media timeout of the second half at 14:22.

The Eagles managed to push their lead to 25 with over 10 minutes to go on a layup by Fressle, but sophomore Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.) went on a run of her own, scoring five straight points between both teams by means of back-to-back layups and a free throw, but BC stole that momentum right back on a three from Kerri Shields and a jumper from Victoria Lesko to go back up 25.

The Bulldogs did not go quietly, drawing to within 19 points on a trey from Schissler, but BC scored eight straight to move out to a 60-33 lead with over five minutes to play.  The home team did not relent in the waning minutes of the game, going up by as many as 31 points at one point before Bryant scored five of the last seven points to finish the game trailing by 28 points.

After not earning a trip to the free-throw line in the first half, Bryant converted a season-low 50 percent of its chances from the charity stripe, going 5-for-10 on the day.  The Bulldogs also made just 3-of-12 three-pointers, converting on 2-of-8 in the first frame before hitting 1-of-4 in the second.

Turnovers were costly for the Bulldogs, as BC held a commanding 17-3 edge in points converted off giveaways.  While undersized, the Bulldogs fought hard in the paint.  The Eagles out-rebounded Bryant by just one (39-38), but Bryant earned 13 offensive boards on 32 tries (40.6 percent), while the Eagles earned just seven offensive boards on 27 missed shots.

Bryant was held to a season-low six steals, but matched the Eagles block-for-block, as both squads finished with fives.

The Bulldogs will return to the Chace Athletic Center on Wednesday, Nov. 30, when they host URI for an Ocean State showdown in Smithfield.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

For continuing coverage of Bryant University women's basketball, check back at www.bryantbulldogs.com, and be sure to follow the Bulldogs on Twitter @BryantAthletics.