Saturday, November 9, 2013

Bowie State Lady Bulldogs Capture 69-61 Season Opening Victory over Nyack Warriors


BOWIE, Md. - The Bowie State University women’s basketball team used a strong run that bridged the halves to beat Nyack (N.Y.) College, 69-61, Friday evening in the season opener for both teams.

Junior Denver Clyde (Glen Burnie, Md) led the way for the Lady Bulldogs with a double-double of 17 points off 5-for-1 shooting from the floor to go with 13 rebounds and three steals. Junior Jasmine McIntosh (Bowie, Md.) added 15 points while fellow junior Ashley Castle (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points and a team-high four assists.

“We started very slow tonight, but I’m excited about the season opening victory”, said third-year head coach Renard Smith. “Even though we hit a dead spot in the second half … a win is a win and the ladies really wanted it.”

Mariah Brown (Stockton, Calif.) and Jamie McKeither (Laurel, Md.) paced the Warriors with 12 and 10 points respectively. All 10 of McKeither’s points came via the charity stripe. Brandone Roberts tied for game-high rebound honors with 13 to lead Nyack.

Nyack, a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, finished the 2012-2013 season with an overall record of 1-25.

Bowie State (1-0) started extremely slow in the first half and held and eight point lead twice in the first 20 minutes (28-20 and again at 29-21) before strolling into intermission with a 29-25 advantage. The Lady Bulldogs shot a rather chilly 21 percent from the floor on 7-of-33 shooting and made 13-of-20 free throws (65 percent) in the first half.

The Nyack Warriors (0-1) were just as cold, making just 5-of-25 from the field (20 percent) and 11-of-15 free throws in the opening period.

The Lady Bulldogs lead grew to 11 twice in the second half only to see the Warriors go on a 7-0 to pull within one at 52-51 with 6:08 remaining in the game.  The Nyack duo of McKeither and Audrey Matteson (Monticelle, Ind.) knocked down a combined 7-of-8 free throws during the run.

A layup by Bowie State senior Moriah Goodman (Baltimore, Md.) at the 5:34 mark stopped the Warriors run.  Castle made a free throw to give the Lady Bulldogs a little breathing room only to have Nyack’s Natalie Harrison (Washington, D.C.) close the deficit to 55-54 with 3:49 left to play.

Fortunately for Bowie State, that’s as close as Nyack would get for the rest of the game, closing out the non-conference contest with a 14-7 run.

Bowie State shot better in the final half of play, hitting 15-of-32 from the field (47 percent) compared to 24 percent (6-of-25) for Nyack over the final 20 minutes.

Free throws played a huge role for the visitors, as the Warriors made 34-of-46 free throws overall compared to 20-of-31 for the Lady Bulldogs. Nyack also held advantages on the glass, out-rebounding Bowie State 52-44.

The Lady Bulldogs converted 24 Warrior turnovers into 27 points and BSU dominated in the paint with a 26-10 advantage.

The Lady Bulldogs will be idle until Thursday, November 21st when they travel across town to take on the Lady Shock of Washington Adventist University at 7 pm.

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