Bulldogs can't mount comeback, lose NEC season-opener to Terriers, 63-47

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. – St. Francis Brooklyn found their first-ever home win against the Bryant University women's basketball team, topping the Bulldogs, 63-47, in the Northeast Conference season opener.

The Terriers led by as much as 29 points, but the efforts of junior Naomi Ashley (Hamilton, Ont.) and the effect of the Bulldogs' press swayed the momentum back in the Bulldogs' favor in the fourth quarter. Ashley tied her career-high of 10 points, scoring all her points in the second half.

The Black and Gold opened the final quarter on a 16-0 run, including six points from the line. The Bulldogs full-court press helped revamp the defense, as Bryant slowed St. Francis down, holding the hosts scoreless for 6:53. Bryant scored a quarter-high 20 points in the fourth, while holding St. Francis Brooklyn to eight.

Nearly opposite of the second half, the Bulldogs got out to a rough start in the first half. In the opening quarter, the Bulldogs shot 12.5 percent, as sophomore Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) hit both of Bryant's buckets from three. From 1:34 in the first to the 4:16 mark in the second, the Bulldogs went scoreless, while the Terriers went on a team-high 16-0 run. Senior Alex Klein (Waterloo, Ont.) ended the drought with a short jumper to pull Bryant within 16, 25-9.

In the first half, the Terriers outscored the Bulldogs, 24-0, in the lane, while shooting 0-for-12 from three. The hosts, who averaged 20.8 turnovers per game entering the contests, coughed up the ball on only four occasions, while Bryant gave up 17 turnovers, resulting in 11 points for St. Francis Brooklyn. Bryant went a season-low 11.1 percent from the floor, while the Terriers shot 35 percent from the field. The Bulldogs 11 first-half points marks the Black and Golds' lowest point total in the opening 20 minutes of play and the first time the team was held to back-to-back quarters with single-point performances. The team's four-point second quarter ties there lowest-performing quarter this season.

The Bulldogs bounced back offensively in the third quarter, scoring 16 points, while limiting themselves to two turnovers in the period. Defensively, the Bulldogs limited St. Francis Brooklyn inside, but the Terriers began to connect from downtown, hitting three from deep to take their largest lead of the game, 52-23, with 1:20 to play in the third.

Despite what was amounting to a comeback in the fourth, the Bulldogs' 20-8 push was not enough, as the Terriers found their first-ever win against the Bulldogs in Brooklyn Heights, 63-47.

The Bulldogs finished 27.8 percent from the field and 88.2 percent from the line. The Terriers shot 39.3 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the charity stripe. Both teams were inconsistent from three, as Bryant hit 2-of-16 and St. Francis Brooklyn 3-of-20.

Olivia Levey lead all scorers with 17 points off 7-for-16 from the field, while Maria Palarino finished with 13 and Alex Delaney with 11. Klein led the Bulldogs with 14 points off 5-of-13 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line. The senior finished with her third double-double of the season, grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Ashley was the only other Bulldogs with double-digit points, finishing with 10, while also adding eight boards in Bryant's 29-24 win on the glass.

The Bulldogs look to bounce back from their first NEC-opening loss since the 2012-13 season, when they close out 2016 at LIU Brooklyn on Saturday at 2 p.m.