BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. - Making their first appearance in the Northeast Conference Tournament since 2018-19, the two seed St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers fell to seventh seeded Bryant by a tight margin of 65-63.
"It's disappointing, I do feel bad for our players," said head coach Linda Cimino. "I thought they played their hearts out this season and especially tonight."
Nevena Dimitrijevic scored 21 points, her second 20-plus point performance of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Ally Lassen opened the scoring from close range when she grabbed an offensive board off her own miss and converted the put back.
Tight defense forced the Bulldogs into a 30 second violation with 1:56 to play in the quarter, and then Nevena Dimitrijevic came off a screen set by Ally Lassen to fire the hosts into a 10-9 lead.
The Bulldogs grabbed a three point lead early in the second quarter when Mariona Planes-Fortuny made a layup, and then Fruzsina Horvath responded by hitting the offensive glass and converting the follow up to make it 15-14 Bryant.
Bryant took their largest lead of the first half with 5:51 to play when Brooke Bjelko made a successful move in the low post, then the lead become eight two minutes later when Bjelko made her fourth field goal of the night. Bryant led 24-16 with 3:53 to play.
But the Terriers fought their way back and ended the quarter on a 10-2 run to draw even. It was all started by Zharia Hutchinson, who pulled up and knocked down her first field goal of the night to get the Terriers within six. On their next trip down the floor, Dimitrijevic found an open look with good ball movement and knocked down the three to reduce the deficit to three.
Then off a missed three point attempt, the point guard grabbed a defensive rebound and lobbed ahead to Hutchinson, who was breaking towards the basket. She drove to bucket, drew contact, made the layup, and completed the three point play to draw SFBK even with 1:14 to play in the half. The teams went into the locker rooms tied at 26.
Bryant began the second half with four straight points, followed by Horvath's first three pointer of the nigh. Then on Bryant's next possession Alyssa Fisher cut the passing lane, came up with a steal and made the breakaway layup to take a 31-30 lead.
With 5:14 to play, Dimitrijevic took the ball up the floor and dished to Fisher, who passed up a good look to find Khaleah Edwards in the corner, who drained the three ball to open up a five point lead for SFBK, their largest of the game to that point.
After SFBK led by as many as seven, Bryant went on a 5-0 run to draw within two.
The Terriers turned up the heat in the heat in the fourth quarter, draining two three pointers in quick succession. The first was from Dimitrijevic and the second from Edwards to take a 56-48 lead with 7:42 to go in the game and send the crowd into a frenzy. Coach Cimino praised the atmosphere after the game, saying "we had a tremendous crowd, it was loud, it was packed."
The hosts took their largest lead of the night, 10, when Isabella Posset got to the line with an aggressive move to the rim and missed, but made both free throws.
However, Bryant scored six straight, two from Kemari Reynolds and four from Planes-Fortuny to make it a one point game with just over two minutes to play. That prompted a 30 second timeout from SFBK. Lassen made a crucial bucket after her short range attempt was no good, but she got her own rebound and made the put back.
Coming out of a timeout with 1:19 left, Fatou Jallow's game tying three point attempt was no good, but she was fouled and made all three attempts to tie the game.
With 16.6 seconds the Terriers had a chance to draw up a game winning play. Dimitrijevic took the clock down, and Lassen set a screen to free the guard up. Lucie Castagne was too aggressive fighting the screen and fouled Nevena, sending her to the line where she made one of two.
That turned possession over to Bryant with 2.3 seconds left for a final attempt. They in-bounded cross court to Planes-Fortuny, and she was fouled by Edwards on her three point attempt, sending her to the stripe with a chance to win the game.
The 6'3" forward made all three to give Bryant a two point lead, and the Terriers last chance heave was no good.
TEAM LEADERS
Nevena Dimitrijevic led the Terriers in scoring with 21 points on 7-14 shooting from the field. She was also SFBK's assist leader with three.
Alyssa Fisher was the second leading scorer with 11 points, five of which she made from the foul line.
Ally Lassen finished the contest with eight points and a team high six rebounds.
NEXT UP: The Terriers close out their run in the NEC Tournament, but look for the opportunity to continue play in a postseason tournament.
