Palmer gets 500th assist against Sacred Heart

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) tallied her 500th assist as the Bryant University women's basketball team fell to Sacred Heart, 67-57.

Naomi Ashley (Hamilton, Ont.) and Sydney Holloway (Morgantown, W. Va.) led the Bulldogs scoring 14 points each. Holloway grabbed 13 rebounds for her 15th double-double of the season.

THE PARTICULARS
Sacred Heart 67, Bryant 57
Records: Bryant 6-17 (4-8), Sacred Heart 13-10 (9-3)
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH BURKE COMMENTS
"I think overall we got beat in every aspect of the game. I don't think in the first three quarters, we showed who Bryant University really is," said head coach Mary Burke. "I will say that I was extremely proud in the fourth quarter the way the players fought back and scrapped and did everything possible to get us back in the game and make it respectable. And for that, I am extremely proud."

KEY MOMENT

• The Pioneers held the Bulldogs to just 13 points in the second quarter going on a 13-4 run before the end of the half. Sacred Heart led, 45-27, as both teams headed into the locker room.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Haley Connors (West Hartford, Conn.) scored the first points of the game by driving across the lane for an easy layup that kick started an 8-0 run forcing Sacred Heart to call a timeout.
• The Pioneers came alive after the timeout going on an 8-2 run to get within one of the Bulldogs, 10-9.
• In the second quarter, Palmer found Hannah Scanlan (Rumson, N.J.) just a step inside the three-point line for a long two. The basket notched Palmer's 500th assist and put the Bulldogs within one, 17-16.
• Sacred Heart shot 68.8 percent from the field (11-of-16) in the second quarter growing to its biggest lead of 18 points by the end of the quarter, 45-27.
• The third quarter was very defensive for both teams with only 13 total points scored in the quarter. Ashley led Bryant scoring five of its six points shooting two-of-four from the field.
• Transfer junior Meagan Bianchi (Brooklyn, Conn.) made her career debut in the fourth quarter pulling up for the first basket of the fourth quarter.
• After Sacred Heart grew to its biggest lead of 22 points in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs ended the game with a 15-2 run to get within 10 to end the game, 67-57.

STATS

• Ashley and Holloway led with 14 points each. Holloway also led with 13 rebounds.
• Scanlan denied three shots.
• Taty LaFrance Boyce (Norwich, Conn.) tallied 13 points shooting a perfect four-of-four from the field and notching the only three-pointer for the Black and Gold.
• Ashley led the Bulldogs with three assists and four steals.

GAME NOTES

• Palmer's lone assist of the game was all she needed to reach 500 assists. She is now among only seven players in NEC's history to ever reach the milestone.
• Holloway tallied her 15^th double-double of the year, 33^rd of her career.
• Bianchi's four points is the first of her career marking a career-best.
• LaFrance Boyce scored a career-best against an NEC team.

UP NEXT
Fairleigh Dickinson visits Smithfield on Monday, February 18 for a 2 p.m. meeting.