Bulldogs try to snap streak against RMU

BRYANT BATTLES ROBERT MORRIS IN 2012 ROAD FINALE

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SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Looking to put an end to a season-high four-game losing streak, the Bryant University women's basketball team wraps up its trip in Western Pennsylvania on Monday night against Robert Morris at the Charles L. Sewall Center. The Bulldogs will be looking for the season sweep of the Colonials and just their second-ever win against RMU.

SERIES HISTORY 

The Colonials own a 3-1 all-time record against the Bulldogs dating back to the 2008-09 season. Bryant picked up its first win against the Colonials this season, when the Bulldogs completed an impressive weekend sweep of both Western Pennsylvania NEC schools with a 75-71 win against the Colonials on Jan. 9 in Smithfield. RMU won the inaugural meeting at the Sewall Center, 91-80, on Feb. 2, 2009 in Moon Township, Pa. The Colonials also won the first meeting between both schools held at the Chace Athletic Center, a 74-72 decision on Feb. 13, 2010.  That game marked the closest the Bulldogs ever came to knocking off RMU, as the other two contests were won by at least 11 points.

LAST TIME OUT

Five players registered double-digit scoring figures – including a career 18-point outing from senior Kaitlyn Hinck – but the Bulldogs fell for the fourth straight game, dropping an 85-73 decision to Saint Francis (PA) on Saturday afternoon at DeGol Arena.

Back-to-back treys cut the deficit to seven with less than two minutes to play, but the could not rally from was at once a 17-point lead for the Red Flash , who evened the season series after Bryant won earlier in the season in Smithfield.

Hinck – a senior walk-on who joined the squad in December – put on a show in front of the 1,136 that were in attendance on Saturday, finishing 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-6 from long range. The New Hampshire native was perfect from the stripe (3-for-3) while seeing action for a career-high 23 minutes.

Joining her in double figures was sophomore Naana Ankoma-Mensa. The forward dropped 13 points while collecting a side-high three steals and hauled down six rebounds to lead the Bulldogs in the paint. Sophomore Courtney Schissler chipped in 12 points – including a pair of treys - and added a steal as well.

Senior Brittany Stahura dished a team- and career-high nine assists while scoring 11 points, finishing one helper shy of an unconventional double-double. Junior Meredith Soper rounded out the group with 10 points and three boards.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS

Picked No. 2 in the conference preseason coaches' poll, the Colonials have won three straight - including a 75-48 victory at home against CCSU on Feb. 18 - and are headed back to the NEC Tournament for the eighth straight season.

Sophomore Artemis Spanou was named to the preseason All-NEC team and has lived up to the billing, averaging a team-high 16.2 ppg and 10.7 rpg that also rank fifth and first in the conference, respectively. She is also tied for the team lead in rejections (21) and has 41 steals on the year, good for second on the squad. Three other Colonials average double-digit scoring: senior Mary Durojaye (13.8 ppg) and juniors Briannica Tye (12.9) and April Williams (10.3) all are offensive threats. 

32-year veteran Sal Buscaglia has commandeered the Colonials for nine seasons, and boasts an impressive coaching resume with over 600 wins - including a 151-108 record in eight previous seasons at RMU.

BACK IN JANUARY AGAINST ROBERT MORRIS 

The Bryant University women's basketball team let an 18-point advantage evaporate but ripped off a late rally of its own to pull out a 75-71 victory over Robert Morris University in Northeast Conference action on Monday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

After surrendering the lead with 11:45 to go in regulation, the Bulldogs (10-5, 3-1 NEC) fell behind by six points in a wild final 10 minutes that saw the lead change three more times before the final buzzer.  But a jumper by junior Meredith Soper (Winthrop, Mass.) with 20 ticks to go put the home team ahead for good, and classmate Katie Whittington (Twinsburg, Ohio) iced the contest with back-to-back free throws.

Soper's performance was particularly memorable, as the Bay Stater missed a triple-double by a mere one assist.  She finished the game with 12 points and 11 boards to go with nine assists.  It would have been the program's first triple-double performance since current assistant coach Lynne-Ann Kokoski last did so against Bridgeport on Dec. 19, 2007.

Whittington, meanwhile, finished the night five points off her career high in scoring, dropping 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including a 5-of-10 clip from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. 

Matching that output and setting a new career high of her own was sophomore Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.), who produced 21 points while missing a double-double by one rebound, finishing with nine to propel the Bulldogs to their first-ever win against RMU. 

SINCE THAT WEEKEND SWEEP...

When the Bulldogs managed to sweep both two-time defending champion Saint Francis (PA) and preseason No. 2 Robert Morris, Bryant moved into a tie for second place in the Northeast Conference while moving an unprecedented five games above .500 for the first time since moving to the Division I ranks.

But since that weekend, the goings have been rough for the Bulldogs. In the exactly 11 games since downing Robert Morris on Jan. 9, Bryant has gone 3-8 to fall down into ninth place in the conference. In the last 10 games, the team has been outscored by 84 points (662-578), shot just 34.6 percent (205-592) from the field and a lowly 59.9 percent (127-212) from the charity stripe.

KAIT GOES CRAZY

Entering Saturday's game with a scoring average of around a point-per-game, senior guard Kaitlyn Hinck - who joined the team in December as a walk-on player to help counter the lack of depth in a depleted Bryant lineup - went off for an outstanding performance that no one saw coming.

The Bow, N.H., native set career highs in every offense statistic, pacing not only the Bulldogs, but all players with 18 points in 23 minutes off the bench. Hinck went 6-for-9 from the field and an impressive 3-for-6 from long range and a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line. She added two rebounds, dished two assists and totaled one steal for good measure, marking one of the most unexpectedly outstanding performances from a bench player in recent memory.

NAANA GOES OFF

If not for the incredible efforts of sophomore forward Naana Ankoma-Mensa, the Bulldogs might not have even come as close as they did in last Wednesday's seven-point loss against Sacred Heart. The Brampton, Ont., native set new career highs with 23 points, 11 made field goals and 18 rebounds in the loss.

NOT FEELIN' THE 40s

Bryant has been held to 40-49 points on four occasions this season, and the end result has not been positive in any of them. The Bulldogs are 0-4 on the year when scoring between 40-49 points. 

TAKE AWAY THE 20s, TOO!

The Bulldogs are 1-4 on the season when posting a shooting percentage less than 30 percent. The only victory in which the team logged a shooting percentage in the 20s was 55-49 win over Monmouth on Jan. 28.

NOT ALWAYS AUTOMATIC

Before last Saturday's game against the Pioneers, the Bulldogs were an impressive 7-1 on the season when logging a shooting percentage in the 40s, and a perfect 4-0 when four players scored in double figures. But despite four players recording 10 points or more, and despite shooting 41.5 percent as a team (22-of-53) against Sacred Heart, the Bulldogs were stymied in a 79-64 defeat.

WHITTINGTON AMONG THE ELITE

Junior Katie Whittington has been dominant from the stripe this season. The NEC's leading free throw shooter has shot 76-for-85 (.894) from the line. Those numbers rank among the best in the country, as Whittington currently sits in sixth place in the NCAA in free throw shooting.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME?

Bryant University Athletics offers more ways than ever before to watch, listen or follow your Bulldogs during all the action even when you can't make it to the court!  Head to www.bryantbulldogs.tv for information about single-game and full- season broadcasting packages, where you can watch webcasts of the Bulldogs for most home games.  Live stats can be found at www.bryantbulldogs.com for every contest, and you can follow @BryantGameday on Twitter for score updates.