Women's hoops rolls over Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. - Four players recorded double-digit scoring marks, and two hit double-doubles for the second-straight game, as the Bryant University women's basketball team rolled to a 63-45 victory over Dartmouth College on Wednesday night at Leede Arena.

The Bulldogs (5-3), who did not reach the five-win mark until Jan. 10 of last season, continued to show resiliency in games played after losses, as the team improved to 3-0 on the year in contests following defeats.  

The Big Green (2-5) registered just a 23.1 percent shooting clip from the field, hitting only 15-of-65 shots against a stifling zone defense implemented by the Bulldogs.

Led by junior Katie Whittington (Twinsburg, Ohio) and her 20-point output, three other players topped the 10-point mark, as classmate Meredith Soper (Winthrop, Mass.) finished with 16, while fellow junior Danielle Douglas (Silver Springs, Md.) and sophomore Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.) each dropped 10 points.

After coming off the bench in her only non-start of the season in a victory over Rhode Island on Nov. 30, Soper continued her impressive stretch of play with her third double-double performance in a row.  In addition to her 16 points, the Massachusetts native hauled down 12 boards to go with an assist and one block over 33 minutes of action.

Over the last three games, Soper has been nearly unstoppable.  In this particular stretch, she has averaged a team-high 16.7 ppg while hauling down an average of 12.0 boards per contest - also good for tops on the squad.

Ankoma-Mensa, meanwhile, hit the double-double mark for the second-straight contest, setting a new career high with an outstanding 17 rebounds, including a game-high 13 offensive boards.

By virtue of a 21-for-51 shooting clip from the field, Bryant set a new single-game high in field-goal percentage, converting 41.2 percent of its chances on the evening.  The team also set highs in free throws made (15) and free-throw percentage (75.0 percent) against the Big Green.

The home team took an early 8-3 lead off of a three-pointer from Nicola Zimmer, who paced the Big Green with a team-high 13 points, but it did not take long for Bryant to wrestle that momentum back into its own hands.  The Bulldogs scored nine straight points to go up by four with 9:25 to play in the frame, and after Dartmouth cut that lead in half, Ankoma-Mensa answered with a jumper in the paint to push Bryant ahead by six.

Dartmouth drew to within a point after Zimmer converted on a jumper with just over five minutes to play in the first frame, but the Bulldogs finished the half on an 8-2 run to go into the break leading, 24-17.

Ankoma-Mensa had garnered 10 boards in the first half alone, while Whittington enjoyed exactly half of her total scoring output in the first 20 minutes, going 3-for-6 from the field and 2-for-4 from long range to close out the first stanza with 10 points.

The visitors wasted no time in springing way out in front at the start of the second half, as Douglas gave Bryant its first double-digit lead of the night at the 18:50 mark of the half off a fastbreak layup to put the Bulldogs up, 30-19, prompting a timeout by the Big Green.

But that temporary respite did nothing to quell Bryant's momentum, as Douglas nailed a jumper and scored on another end-to-end layup to increase the lead to 15 points.  Wrapping up the prolific run were back-to-back treys from Whittington and Soper, respectively, as Bryant went ahead, 44-19, with 14:09 to go in the contest.

Dartmouth ended a nearly six-minute scoring drought when Janelle Ross scored at 13:49, and a long-ball by Zimmer cut the lead back to 20 with over 10 minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs remained comfortably in front for the rest of the contest.

Bryant finished with a season-high 63 boards over Dartmouth's 45, while committing 22  turnovers compared to just 13 for the Big Green.  

Up next for the Bulldogs will be a date with Lafayette College on Sunday, Dec. 11, when the squad hosts its only home game in the month of December against the Leopards.  Opening tip is set for 1 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.