Bulldogs take down Brown in home opener

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After losing to Brown by 23 points last season, Sydney Holloway (Morgantown, W. Va.) led the Bulldogs to a 75-57 win over Brown during the Bulldog's home opener on Tuesday night.

Holloway led the Black and Gold by grabbing 20 rebounds and putting up 27 points. Haley Connors (West Hartford, Conn.) chipped in with a career-high of 18 points and tying her career-high of six rebounds.   

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant 75, Brown 57
Records: Bryant 2-0, Brown 1-1
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Attendance: 567

COACH BURKE'S COMMENTS

"I am super proud of the team and how hard we played," said head coach Mary Burke. "Over the past few weeks we've been talking about defense and holding teams under 60. That's the recipe for us to be successful because we create a lot of opportunites through rebounding and turning the ball over to get easy offense."

KEY MOMENTS

• To start the third quarter, the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run. Holloway then went off for 16 points and 6 rebounds to help Bryant run away with the game. After being out scored by 10 points, the Bears were not able to recover as they entered the fourth quarter. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bulldogs went on a 8-0 run late in the first quarter led by Connors with five points.
• Brown tied the game up and took its biggest lead of the night of three points with just under seven minutes to go in the second quarter.
• Due to a series of missed shots and layups by both teams, neither team scored in the second quarter for a total of 3 minutes and 37 seconds until Holloway kick started the Bulldogs as they led by three points going into the second half.
• To start the third quarter, Bryant went on a 5-0 run that gave the Bulldogs the momentum they needed to maintain the lead. The Bulldogs grew their biggest lead of 16 points so far in the game. As a team, Bryant shot 53% from the field in the third.
• The Bulldogs started running away with the game early in the fourth quarter as Connors hit a three to go on a 5-0 run. Bryant shot 6 for 10 from the free throw line in the final quarter led by Masey Zegarowski (Hamilton, Mass.) with four. 

STATS

• Connors scored a career-high 18 points shooting 4-7 from behind the arc.
• Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) and Zegarowski both led the team in assists each tallying four a piece.
• The Bulldogs out rebounded the Bears by 12, which led Bryant to 15 second chance points as compared to Brown's nine.
• Hannah Scanlan (Rumson, N.J.) led the way with three steals, tying her career best.
• Julia Kelner (Fayetteville, N.Y.) scored six points on the night leading the bench points. 

GAME NOTES

• This is the first time since Connors was a sophomore in the 2016-17 season where she scored double digits in back-to-back games.
• The Bulldogs defeated Brown for the first time since 2016 when they last met in Smithfield for a 70-67 decision. 
• This is the first time that Holloway entered in the 20's for both rebounds and points since last season when she scored 29 points and grabbed 22 rebounds against Robert Morris.
• Kandis Taylor (Sunrise, Fla.) scored a career-high of four points, scoring her first points of the 2018-19 season.
• Bryant came out victorious in its first two games of the season which hasn't happened since 2016. 
• Head coach Mary Burke is now only eight wins away to her 400th career win. 

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs will host Maine on Tuesday, November 13 at the Chace Athletic Center at 7 p.m.