Bulldogs fall in defensive battle vs. Binghamton, 55-47

POSTGAME QUOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. –  Redshirt junior Naomi Ashley (Hamilton, Ont.) scored 12 points and had seven rebounds, but the Bryant University women's basketball team fell to the Binghamton Bearcats, 55-47, at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield on Thursday night.

GAME INFORMATION

Binghamton 55, Bryant 47
Records: Binghamton 5-4, Bryant 1-8
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Attendance: 548

COACH BURKE'S COMMENTS

"I thought Ashley and the team did well. We held them to 15 points under their season average. I thought defensively, we did a good job. [Binghamton is] going to score. They have some scorers and are very athletic and multidimensional. I thought we did a good job on the boards and a better job of taking care of the ball than we normally do."

KEY MOMENTS

• Binghamton's Imani Watkins hit a 3-pointer to cap off a 13-0 Bearcats run in the first quarter, giving the visitors a 15-4 lead.
• Freshman Hannah Scanlan (Rumson, N.J.) had a reverse hook layup to start a Bryant comeback with 4:07 remaining in the game. Scanlan faked the defender and hit the hook shot over the block attempt to grab the bucket.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The 13-0 run in the first quarter resulted in the Bearcats leading, 17-9, at the first intermission.
• The second quarter was scoreless until the 5:59 mark when senior captain Kathleen Everson (Farmingville, N.Y.) scored a layup to end the scoring drought.
• The Bearcats went on an 11-1 run in the third quarter to extend their lead to 13.
• Bryant won the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bearcats 14-11. They were down as many as 15 before widdling the lead down to eight sophomore Stephanie Lesko (Rumson, N.J.) hit a 3-pointer with 2:47 remaining in the game.

STATS

• Sophomore Sydney Holloway (Morgantown, W. Va.) missed her fourth double-double of the season by one point. She finished with nine points and 10 rebounds on the night.
• Classmate Masey Zegarowski (Hamilton, Mass.) also scored nine points for the Bulldogs. Zegarowski scored the opening Bryant bucket, a 3-pointer, to give the team a lead early in the first quarter.
• Scanlan had double-figure rebounds for the second game in a row, finishing the game with 10 boards.
• Binghamton's Alyssa James had five blocks on the afternoon. She also had five turnovers on offense.

GAME NOTES

• Bryant had two players make their first starts of the season on Thursday – Zegarowski and junior Haley Connors (West Hartford, Conn.).
• Bryant had 46 rebounds in the game, tying the most in a game this season for the Bulldogs. They also had 46 rebounds at Holy Cross in an overtime thriller.
• Defensively, the Bulldogs held the Bearcats to 14 points less than their season average of 68.9 points per game.

UP NEXT

Bryant is back home on Sunday, Dec. 10 when the team hosts Hartford at 1 p.m. The game will be played at the Chace Athletic Center and tickets are available here.