After a weekend tournament, the women’s basketball team returned to the Ocean State Tuesday in a matchup against the University of Rhode Island Rams that resulted in a 65-61 Bears loss.
The Rams (4-3) started the game with a strong defensive showing on their way to a 21-9 lead with 9:07 left until halftime. Despite the early disadvantage, shots by Jordin Alexander ’16 and Natalie Ball ’16 brought Bruno back into contention. The Bears (1-6) demonstrated resiliency and fought back to knot the game at 30-30 with a trey from Rebecca Musgrove ’17 with just 10 seconds left in the half.
During the second half, the Bears quickly saw the score slip from their grasp as the Rams tacked on multiple layups to widen the gap to eight points, 44-36, with 14:09 left in play. But much as they did in the first half, the Bears fought back. With shots from Musgrove and Alexander, Bruno persevered and forged an 11-2 run. The offensive surge was topped off with a jump shot from Musgrove that gave the Bears their first lead of the game, 47-46.
But URI quickly countered with an 11-2 run of its own that left the Bears at an eight-point disadvantage with 4:34 remaining. Again, Bruno fought back with two pivotal three-pointers from Ellise Sharpe ’16 and Sophie Bikofsky ’15 to reduce the deficit to four, 61-57. The following possession included a turnover by the Rams made possible by a steal from Musgrove. The junior forward subsequently took the ball to the basket for an easy layup to put the Bears within two points of the lead.
The Rams then held possession of the ball for the full 30-second shot clock until a three-point attempt missed its mark. The rebound was pulled down by Alexander, the team’s leading scorer with 19 points per game. She capitalized with a layup to tie up the game at 61 with 14 ticks left.
The next URI possession started with a missed layup, but it was followed up by a crucial offensive rebound by the Rams’ Samantha Tabakman. Using the second chance, Tabakman drew a foul from Ball. With ice running through her veins, Tabakman sunk both free throws with three seconds left in action and put the Rams up 63-61. Out of a timeout, the Bears ran one final play to at least take the game into overtime with a two-point field goal, but they were unable to do so. The defeat marks the Bears’ sixth of the early season.
Next up, Bruno returns home this weekend to host the annual Brown Classic at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The weekend’s matchups include a Saturday afternoon game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers (4-1) and a Sunday afternoon game against either the St. Bonaventure Bonnies (5-2) or the Drexel Dragons (3-1).
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