Bulldogs travel to FDU for NEC Quarterfinals
HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Bryant University women's basketball team finished sixth overall in the Northeast Conference and hits the road for No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson for the quarterfinal round of the NEC postseason tournament. Quarterfinals kick off on Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in Hackensack, N.J.
THE PARTICULARS
Opponent: No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson
Location: Rothman Center (Hackensack, N.J.)
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Watch Live: NEC Front Row
Game Notes: Game 30 – Fairleigh Dickinson
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #AllHeart | #AllHustle | #NECWBB
THE MATCHUP
Bryant hits the road the meet with Fairleigh Dickinson in the quarterfinal round of the NEC postseason tournament on Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. Monday marks the third time this season that the two teams will meet as the Bulldogs swept the Knights earlier this year. All-time, the Bulldogs are 16-6 against FDU and 7-4 in Hackensack. Bryant has never met with FDU in postseason play.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Fairleigh Dickinson enters Monday's matchup on a two-game winning streak after upsetting Mount St. Mary's, 66-63, to close out the regular season and propel the Knights to third place. The Knights haven't hosted an NEC quarterfinal since 1997.
Senior Lauren Francillon dominated at Mount St. Mary's with 33 points and 10 rebounds. Francillon is the conference leader in field goal percentage with 49.6 percent. The first time the Bulldogs met with FDU, Francillon came off the bench racking up just 14 minutes of play and posted four points. In the second meeting, the senior forward posted 13 points and two rebounds as a starter.
LAST TIME OUT: WAGNER
Bryant topped Wagner, 65-53, on Thursday night to round out the regular season. Four Bulldogs notched double-figure scoring led by Brooke Bjelko (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) with 19. Masey Zegarowski (Hamilton, Mass.) posted 15 while Nicole Gallagher (Foxboro, Mass.) added 12. Senior Sydney Holloway (Morgantown, W.Va.) posted a double-double of 10 points, 12 rebounds as the Bulldogs shot 46.9 percent from the field shooting 23-of-49.
BEGINNERS LUCK
Freshman point guard Nicole Gallagher posted six consecutive double-figure scoring performances in her NEC debut. Gallagher tied her career-best against the NEC with 15 points at Sacred Heart. The rookie also leads the team by a wide margin in made three-pointers against the NEC with 34 through the conference schedule and 51 on the season. In four of Bryant's last five games, Gallagher has posted double-figures, including the most recent contest at Wagner when Gallagher added 12 points off four-of-seven shooting from long-distance.
HOLLA!
Sydney Holloway has posted double-figure scoring in 11 of the last 12 games for the Bulldogs, including her first 20-point performance of the season against St. Francis Brooklyn with 22 points and 14 rebounds. In the 12-game span, the senior has tallied eight double-doubles with the most recent performance occurring at Wagner with 10 points, 12 rebounds. Holloway also leads the conference in rebounding with 254 on the year averaging 9.4 a game. She also leads the conference and ranks 21st in the country with 3.9 offensive rebounds per game.
FREE-BEES
As a team, the Bulldogs rank third in the NEC with 347 made free throws off 499 attempts. In two of Bryant's last three games, the Bulldogs have gone to the line over 20 times as they shot 20-of-25 against FDU before going 18-for-27 against Sacred Heart. Senior Sydney Holloway leads the Black and Gold and ranks second in the NEC with 96 made free throws. Holloway also ranks third with 134 attempts.
DOMINATING THE GLASS
In seven of its last nine games, Bryant has dominated its opponent on the glass by outrebounding them by double-digits. The Bulldogs posted three-straight double-digit rebound margins including a season-high of 51 team rebounds against Sacred Heart. Most recently, Wagner snapped the double-digit rebounds margin when Bryant outrebounded the Seahawks by just nine. The Bulldogs lead the NEC and rank 50th nationally with a 5.4 rebound margin per game.
CLINCHED
Thanks to a 55-47 win over FDU, the Bulldogs have punched their ticket to the 2020 NEC women's basketball postseason tournament. Bryan finished the regular season 8-10 against the NEC and finished sixth overall. The Bulldogs will head to FDU for quarterfinals as the Knights host their first NEC postseason game since 1997. Since the Division I era, Bryant has yet to miss a postseason tournament following its three-year waiting period. The last time Bryant made it past the quarterfinal round was in 2017 when the Bulldogs reached the NEC Final for the first time in Bryant's history.