Bulldogs look to split games in PA, take on Red Flash, Monday at 5 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - After recording its first Northeast Conference loss of the season, the Bryant University women's basketball team heads to Saint Francis U., looking to add to their 10 league wins on Monday at 5 p.m.

THE SERIES
This contest marks the 13th meeting between the Bulldogs and Red Flash with the series mark in Bryant's favor, 7-5. The Bulldogs won the last three meetings, recording a double-digit victory in their latest matchup, 84-72, in Smithfield on Jan. 25.

SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
The Red Flash sit 6-5 in conference play, after losing two-straight games to Central Connecticut and Fairleigh Dickinson. Saint Francis U. is strong offensively, scoring 74.7 points per game but give up 78.4 points to the opposition. The Red Flash also holds a negative margin on the boards, allowing their opponents to outrebound them by 9.5 per game. Saint Francis U. grabs an impressive 11.5 steals per game, while rejecting opponents on average 4.5 times per contest. The Red Flash are led offensively by 10-time NEC Rookie of the Week Jessica Kovatch, who averages 22.2 points per game, shooting 42.4 percent from the floor, 36.2 percent from three and 85.9 percent from the charity stripe. The guard totals 488 points on the season, scoring 28.7 percent of the team's points in her 22 starts. The remaining four starters for Saint Francis U. average between 7.4 and 10.0 points per game, proving the Red Flash has an offensively strong unit.

RI -> PA
When traveling from the Ocean State to the Keystone State, the Bulldogs post a 2-12 record, going 0-8 in Moon Township and 2-4 in Loretto in Division I play. 

L1
The Bulldogs recorded their first loss of the New Year and first in NEC play against Robert Morris on Feb. 6. The Colonials erased a 16-point Bryant lead, winning, 55-53, in the Sewall Center, where Bryant has never won a game (0-8). The Bulldogs outscored the Colonials in 3-of-4 quarters, including holding the Colonials to two single-digit scoring periods, but Robert Morris trumped the Bulldogs, 26-10 in the third quarter. The second half saw a Robert Morris 27-2 run that gave them their first lead of the game, in which they were able to hold onto for the remainder of the contest.

TWO STRAIGHT
In unlikely fashion, the Bulldogs have given up two games on the glass, losing the battle, 36-33, at Central Connecticut on Feb. 1, before falling, 43-42, at Robert Morris on Feb. 6. The deciding rebound came on the last possession of the game, in which Bryant had a chance to tie or win the game, but off the missed shot, Robert Morris collected the win on the boards and the conference win, 55-53. The Bulldogs' rebounding differential has dropped to single digits, 9.5, for the first time in NEC play.

I GOT 10 ON IT
Head coach Mary Burke knows how to win, despite personnel, year, weather, location, etc. The Providence College women's basketball Hall of Famer has been at the helm of Bryant women's basketball for 25 seasons, recording 10+ conference wins on 14 occasions, including eight straight seasons with double-digit league victories (2000-08). Burke posts a 358-353 overall record, including 67-52 NEC mark in the seven seasons the program has competed in the league. In her highest-winning season, Burke led her 2003-04 Bulldogs to a 17-5 Northeast-10 record. The 2015-16 squad's 10-0 start marked the first time Burke has led her team to 10-straight conference wins to start league play.

NEVER-NEVER LAND
The Bulldogs were ice cold from 3-point land against Robert Morris on Feb. 6, hitting only 1-of-16 from downtown (6.3 percent). Sophomore Ivory Bailey hit the Bulldogs' only three off three attempts, while senior Tiersa Winder went 0-for-5 and freshman Haley Connors shot 0-for-4.

ALONE AT THE TOP
The Bulldogs currently sit atop the Northeast Conference with a one-game cushion over second place Sacred Heart, after falling to Robert Morris, 55-53, on Feb. 6. The loss to the Colonials marks the first for the Bulldogs in conference play.

DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
Three Bulldogs have earned double-doubles this season, led by senior Breanna Rucker, who notched her 12th double-double of the 2015-16 season at Robert Morris on Feb. 6, when she scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed the team's only double-digit rebounds with 11. In her 10th double-double performance at Sacred Heart (Jan. 30), Rucker notched a team-high 17 points and tied her season-best 15 rebounds for the third time this year. Rucker's 11 double-doubles rank first in the NEC and 13th in the nation. Sophomore Ivory Bailey recorded her fourth double-double of the season and fifth of her career off 10 points and 10 rebounds against Saint Francis U. (Jan. 25), marking two-straight games with such a performance. Junior Alex Klein logged her first-career double-double off 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds against Brown (Dec 6).

FOUR QUARTERS
Bryant has outscored opponents in 41-of-84 quarters this season, while also holding its competitors to single-digit point totals on 11 occasions. Most recently, the Bulldogs held Robert Morris to two single-digit scoring quarters, including seven in the second and nine in the fourth, despite losing, 55-53, to the Colonials on Feb. 6. Against Central Connecticut, Bryant held the Blue Devils to only five points in the final quarter, preventing them from scoring a single field goal from the floor (Feb. 1). On the eighth occasion, Bryant held Sacred Heart (Jan. 30) to eight points in the third quarter. The Black and Gold held Robert Morris (Jan. 23) to nine points in the first ten minutes, while also containing St. Francis Brooklyn (Jan. 18) to single-digit point totals in the second (7) and fourth quarter (8), outscoring the Terriers, 35-15. The Bulldogs only allowed Fairleigh Dickinson 14 total points in the middle two quarters, including just four points in the second (Jan. 4). In similar fashion, Bryant allowed New Hampshire only 17 combined points in the second and third quarters, including just two points in the second alone (Dec. 20). In their highest point total allowed, the Bulldogs gave up 39 points to Seton Hall (Nov. 13) in the first quarter, but then held the Pirates to 14 in the fourth.