Box Score
SMITHFIELD, RI – Bryant's junior Kelsey O'Keefe, who scored 22 of her game total 24 points in the second half, made two free throws putting her team ahead by 13 with 6:25 left in the contest and then added five more points down the stretch in the Bulldogs 66-62 win over visiting New Jersey Institute of Technology Wednesday night.
Tonight's game marks the second meeting between Bryant and the Highlanders. The two teams last squared off in 2004-05 when both teams were at the Division II level.
Bryant was paced by O'Keefe, with 24 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard Cara Johnson one of two seniors on the Bulldogs roster added 14 points and Shannon Wood chipped in nine points off the bench.
NJIT was led by senior Jill Dickinson with 17 points –11 coming in the first half. Sophomore Jessica Gerald, who came into the game averaging (17.0 points) posted 12 points while co-captain Jackie McCaffrey had 10.
Down 12, just under the four minute media timeout, NJIT rallied for seven straight points beginning with Katie Piekielski, sinking two free throws at 3:39. A foul by the home team put Dickinson at the free throw line as she was in the act of shooting a three. Dickinson sank all throw shots bringing the Highlanders within seven, 57-50. Piekielski, making herself big inside the paint was given a nice pass from the top of the key from freshman Melanie Griffin as she pulled the Highlanders within five, 57-52.
Bryant's O'Keefe broke the NJIT rally at 1:39 connecting on a hook shot giving her team a seven-point cushion. Ten seconds later down on the opposite end, McCaffrey sank a crucial three-pointer putting the Highlanders back in the game.
After a 30-second timeout by NJIT, Bryant scored on a jumper by Courtney Schermerhorn with 59 seconds left on the clock. McCaffrey's four-point play with 40 seconds left pulled the Highlanders within a two points of the lead, 61-59, but NJIT would not get any closer.
NJIT led after the first half, 25-22, paced by Dickinson's 11 points to lead all scorers at the break. Bryant's Johnson had seven points.
The visitors controlled the early going, as Bryant fell behind, 10-5, after McCaffrey's three with 15:50 left in the first half. Bryant battled back and knotted the game for the first time at 15 on Johnson's three-pointer at the 8:11 mark. The Bulldogs took its first lead of the game on a lay-up by Lekia Cowen, 17-15.
NJIT grabbed back the lead 25-21 on a three by Dickinson at the 1:16 mark. Bryant's Stephanie Fontaine hit one of two from the free throw line with 13 seconds left for a 25-22 halftime score.
The Highlanders will return to action on Saturday, February 7 and begin its four-game homestead hosting Chicago State at 4pm.
In the last meeting between the teams, Chicago State came out on top with a 71-60 victory in Chicago on January 15. NJIT was led by Gerald with 34 points, the team's highest total for the season and also one of the highest in the program's 22 seasons. Chicago State had all five starters reach double-figures.
Chicago State leads the all-time series 2-1.
