Women tackle Mount St. Mary's Saturday

BULLDOGS, MOUNTAINEERS FACE OFF SATURDAY AFTERNOON

GAME NOTES | FOLLOW @BRYANTGAMEDAY
Watch/Listen: www.BryantBulldogs.com
Live Stats: www.BryantBulldogs.com

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Looking to avoid losing six games in a row for the first time this season and just the third time as a Division I program, the Bryant University women's basketball team welcomes Mount St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center. After going 12-9 in the first three months of the season, the Bulldogs have gone 1-5 in the month of February.

THE SERIES

Bryant has squared off against The Mount on four previous occasions and trails the all-time series 1-3.  Mount St. Mary's picked up wins in the first two meetings, including back-to-back wins at Knott Arena in 2009 and 2010. But the Bulldogs soared to an overtime victory at home against the Mountaineers last season, posting a 79-76 win at the Chace Athletic Center on Jan. 29, 2011. The Mount won this season's first contest, as the Bulldogs fell on the road, 66-61, back on Jan. 14. That loss snapped a season-high three-game win streak for the Bulldogs.

LAST TIME OUT: COLONIALS EDGE BRYANT, 72-68

The Bryant University women's basketball team trailed by just two points with less than eight minutes to play in the second half, but Robert Morris used a late surge to hand the Bulldogs a 72-68 defeat on Monday evening at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

Trailing at one point by eight, the Bulldogs quickly cut it to a one-possession game with 7:30 to play, but the Colonials countered that surge with a 9-3 scoring run and withheld a late charge in the final minute to win for the fourth straight game.

After junior guard Katie Whittington nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 61-58 with 4:06 to play, the Colonials reeled off five straight points and capitalized when Whittington was whistled for an intentional foul after a Bryant turnover to take an eight-point lead with just more than two minutes to play. The home side held on to eventually prevail by four.

Whittington led the Bulldogs in scoring with 15 points on 3-of-9 shooting from long range, while sophomores Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.) and Courtney Schissler (Branford, Conn.) finished with 13 points apiece. Ankoma-Mensa earned her team-leading eighth double-double of the year by means of her team-high 13 rebounds and also added one block.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS

Currently the hottest team in the conference thanks to a five-game winning streak, the Mount enters Saturday with a 13-14 record and a 9-7 mark in the conference. Mount St. Mary's has clinched a spot in the 2012 Northeast Conference Tournament, but can still move up in the standings with two wins this weekend and some help from the teams in front of it.

The Mountaineers currently stand in a tie for sixth with LIU Brooklyn, but are just one game back of three teams tied for third. The Mountaineers can finish as high as the third seed or as low as the eight seed.

The offense is clicking on all cylinders right now for the visitors, as the Mount has posted 68 points in four of its last seven games after reaching 68 points in a game twice in the first 20 games this season. In the last five games – all wins – the Mountaineers are averaging 66.4 points per game after averaging 54.2 points per game in the first 20 games of the year.

Junior guard Sydney Henderson leads the team in scoring with 12.0 ppg and shoots 35.3 percent from the field (116-329). Sophomore forward Jessie Kaufman has contributed an even 8.0 ppg while ranking among the team's leaders from long range with a 31-for-86 (.360) clip from outside. Junior Selina Mann established a new program record with 11 steals against FDU earlier this month. She also became the first player in program history to record 10 steals in a game twice in her career, and became the first player in program history to record 100 assists and 100 steals in a single season. 

As a team, the Mount ranks second in the conference in 3-point shooting (.328), but last in rebounding margin (-8.6).

BACK IN JANUARY AGAINST THE MOUNT

Three players reached double-digit scoring for the Bulldogs, but that would not be enough to overcome a 38-point output in the second half by the Mountaineers, as the home team erased a seven-point halftime deficit in no time at all and ultimately prevailed in the back-and-forth affair.

Junior Meredith Soper bested all players with an 18-point performance while recording eight boards, while sophomore Naana Ankoma-Mensa cruised to her fifth double-double of the season on 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Junior Katie Whittington rounded out the trio with 10 points and a team-high four assists.

Entering the game as the hottest three-point shooting team in the league, the Mount used the long ball to its advantage again, as the team that led the Northeast Conference in three-pointers made per game (6.40) dropped seven treys on 16 attempts (43.8 percent), slightly better than the Bulldogs' 5-of-14 clip (35.7 percent) from beyond the arc.

The game quite possibly was decided at the charity stripe, as the home team earned 31 trips to the line compared to just 12 for the Bulldogs. Mount St. Mary's finished the day 19-of-31 in free throw shooting (61.3 percent) while the visitors dropped 8-of-12 from the line for a 66.7 percent conversion rate.

The Mountaineers also benefited from a balanced scoring attack highlighted by three players in double figures. Ashley Christie put up a team-high 12 points, while Sydney Henderson and Rachel Mathews both finished with 11 points. Selina Mann was also a valued contributor for the Mount, chipping in nine points and dishing a game-high eight assists. Henderson, meanwhile, led all players from downtown, going 3-of-5 on the day from long range. 

A FEBRUARY TO FORGET

After entering the month of February with a 12-9 record, Bulldogs have seen the wheels fall off during their last six games. While Bryant handed St. Francis (NY) a 55-45 win back on Feb. 4, the Bulldogs have fallen in five straight games since that meeting. During that stretch, Bryant has been outscored by a 405-368 margin, has been out-rebounded (244-228), has totaled just 7.6 steals per game, and has converted only 58.6 percent (78-22) of its chances at the free throw line. Bryant's only worse month than this February was an 0-5 mark in November of 2010.

KAIT GOES CRAZY AGAINST RED FLASH

Entering last 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.

WHITTINGTON NEARLY NATION'S BEST

Junior Katie Whittington has been dominant from the stripe this season, and her performance has not gone unnoticed. While Bryant still is a reclassifying team, Whittington's 90.1 percent success rate on 82-of-91 shooting from the free throw line actually ranks third among all Division I players averaging a minimum of 2.5 made free throws per game. Only Portland St.'s Courtney VanBrocklin and Richmond's Abby Oliver have logged better free throw percentages this year.

NEC TOURNEY FIELD IS SET

While the Bulldogs were not eligible to compete in the 2012 Northeast Conference Tournament this season, the Bulldogs would have fallen short of that mark this season regardless of their reclassification status. The highest the Bulldogs can finish in the conference standings is ninth after falling from 6-5 to 6-10 in the conference during their five-game skid. The eight teams that will be competing for a bid to the NCAA Tournament are Quinnipiac; Sacred Heart; Robert Morris; Monmouth; Saint Francis (PA); LIU Brooklyn; Mount St. Mary's and Fairleigh Dickinson.

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.

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.