Bulldogs go for four-straight

BRYANT HOSTS MAINE MONDAY NIGHT NIGHT AT 7 PM AT THE CHACE

Game Notes

ON TAP AT THE CHACE CENTER

The Bryant University women's basketball program continues its 2012-13 campaign when its hosts the University of Maine Black Bears, Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, R.I.

SERIES HISTORY

This will be the third meeting between the two schools, with the series tied at 1-1. Last November in Orono, Maine, Bryant topped the Black Bears, 65-53.

LAST SEASON IN ORONO, MAINE

The Bryant University women's basketball team took a 14-point lead into the locker room, and held on in the second half to down the University of Maine, 65-53, on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gym.

Two different sophomores recorded new career highs, as Naana Ankoma-Mensa(Brampton, Ont.) and Courtney Schissler (Branford, Conn.) recorded 20 and 17 points, respectively, to lead the Bulldogs (2-1) over the Black Bears (1-2) for the first time ever.

Joining the stellar sophomores in double-digit scoring was Danielle Douglas (Silver Springs, Md.), who was unstoppable along with Ankoma-Mensa in the first half.  The junior guard was two points shy of her own career-high scoring mark, finishing the afternoon with 17 points, five assists, one steal and one block over 37 minutes.

Classmate Meredith Soper (Winthrop, Mass.) completed the trifecta of career-setting performers, totaling six steals on the game to match a previous personal best in takeaways.  The Massachusetts native also gathered a game-high 11 boards.

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, the Bulldogs scored 35 of the final 54 points, sapping the home court advantage en route to taking a 40-26 lead at halftime.  Junior Katie Whittington (Twinsburg, Ohio) added a three pointer and nailed a pair of free throws to finish with five points, and Schissler tacked in six points late in the half to cap the first stanza.

Douglas led all scorers in the first half with 15 points, closely followed by Ankoma-Mensa's 12 points.

After the break, Maine's Brittany Williams reeled off three straight points by capitalizing on a Bulldog turnover to give the home crowd reason to cheer, but Ankoma-Mensa tacked on Bryant's first four points of the second half to quiet the Black Bears.

Following some aggressiveness by both teams that brought the foul counts up, Schissler took over for the Bulldogs with just over 10 minutes left to play.  The sophomore wound up scoring 12 of the team's final 14 points in an incredible individual effort in one of her finest games with the Black and Gold.

Maine finished by scoring 13 of the game's final 18 points, but by that point it was far too late, as the Bulldogs walked off with the 12-point victory.

Bryant finished the game shooting a season-high 40.7 percent from the field (24-for-59), marking the first time this season that Bryant has shot 40 percent or better.  Both squads were even with 36 rebounds, while the Bulldogs committed fewer turnovers (17) than Maine (24).  The Bulldogs also finished with 15 steals over just five for the Black Bears.

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS

The Gaels enter Wednesday's action with a 1-8 overall mark, most recently falling to Ocean State-foe URI, 51-38, Saturday afternoon. Touting nine freshmen and just one senior on this year's roster, head coach Richard Barron will rely heavily on a group of young group of players this season.

Junior guard Ashleigh Roberts leads the Black Bears with 12.1 points per game, adding 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals per contest. Sophomore Danielle Walczak and freshman Liz Wood are averaging 8.3 and 8 ppg, respectively, while Wood leads Maine in rebounding at 5.3 rpg.

Chosen to finish seventh in the America East Preseason Poll, the Black Bears will look to pick-up a few keys wins in the final weeks of non-conference play before beginning league action in January.

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs will host Holy Cross on Friday, Dec. 21 (11 a.m.) for Mid-Day Madness!

TICKET TO RIDE

Single-game and season ticket packages are still available for the 2012-13 men's and women's basketball seasons. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.bryantbulldogs.com/tickets or by calling the Bryant Athletics Ticket Office at 401-519-TIXX.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE GAME?

Bryant University Athletics and the Northeast Conference have partnered with Pack Network to create NEC Front Row, the home for all NEC men's and women's basketball broadcasts in 2012-13. NEC Front Row brings viewers an industry-leading video streaming solution for more than 100 Bryant University home contests during the 2012-13 athletic seasons, including live, free-of-charge broadcasts of all 15 Bulldog home men's basketball games. Live event productions include multiple camera angles, an on-screen scoreboard and state-of-the-art graphics. Visitwww.necfrontrow.com for more information and a schedule of events.