Boxscore
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior forward Kate Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) tallied her third consecutive double-double with 20 points and a career-high 15 rebounds on Saturday afternoon, but the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team was defeated, 77-72, by Bryant in Northeast-10 Conference play at Chace Athletic Center. Bryant's Kelsey O'Keefe led all scorers with 26 points on the afternoon. With the loss, SCSU falls to 14-10 (10-9 NE-10), while Bryant improves to 16-9 (11-9 NE-10) with the victory.
SCSU controlled the game early on, as they opened with an 11-5 run, featuring six points from senior forward Rochelle Johnson (Norwalk, Conn.) over the opening seven minutes. The Owls would extend the run to 17-9 on back-to-back three-pointers from Lynch and senior guard Michelle Martinik (Monroe, Conn.).
Later in the half, Bryant would go through a five-plus-minute stretch without a field goal, but kept the game close as they shot 9-for-13 as a team from the free-throw line in the half. The Bulldogs would come all the way back to tie the game at 25-25 on a layup by O'Keefe and went to the lockerroom with a 27-25 lead following a fast break layup from Lynne-Ann Kokoski 18 seconds before the intermission.
For SCSU, Johnson and freshman guard
Logan Lentz (Chambersburg, Pa.) split the first-half scoring lead with six points each. Johnson led all players with seven rebounds in the opening stanza while Lynch collected five boards of her own as well as a half-high four steals.
Kokoski led all scorers over the opening 20 minutes with seven points while Kelli Reynolds also pitched in six for Bryant. O'Keefe, Siamone Bennett and Court Schermerhorn led the Bulldogs with four rebounds each in the first half.
Bryant came out of the lockerroom and opened with the first eight points of the second half, prompting an SCSU timeout just 1:34 into the second period. Out of the timeout, the Owls responded with the next seven points, including five from junior guard Lexi Allen (Southbury, Conn.) to close the Bryant lead to three points at 35-32 with 17:04 to play.
From there, the teams traded baskets over the next seven minutes before SCSU used a quick 4-0 run to regain the lead at 52-51 with 9:47 to play. From there, the teams played back-and-forth with the lead swapping sides several times before Bryant took the lead for good when a pair of Kokoski free throws made it 67-65 with 3:49 to play. The Bulldogs would then use three-pointers from O'Keefe and Schermerhorn to extend the lead to 73-68 with 1:55 remaining. Bryant would go on to notch a 77-72 victory.
Lynch led the way for SCSU on the afternoon with 20 points. Allen (13 points), Johnson (10) and senior guard Kaylie Schiavetta (Northport, N.Y.) (10) made it a quartet of Owls in double figures. Lynch and Johnson each posted double-doubles with 15 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
O'Keefe led all scorers with 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting and also grabbed 12 rebounds to tally a double-double of her own. Kokoski joined her in double digits with 11 points and handed out a game-high nine assists. Siamone Bennett collected 12 rebounds of her own for the Bulldogs.
SCSU shot 23-for-83 (27.7%) from the floor, 8-for-21 (38.1%) from three-point range and 18-for-22 (81.8%) from the free-throw line on the evening.
Bryant shot 27-for-52 (51.9%) from the field, 5-for-9 (55.6%) from behind the arc and 18-for-29 (62.1%) from the charity stripe.
SCSU wore pink uniforms for the third and final time this week as part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) 'Think Pink' program promoting breast cancer awareness.
The Owls return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 19 when they return home to host Massachusetts-Lowell in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven, Conn. Prior to the game, the Owls will honor their four seniors.
