How will Bryant women's basketball team fare on 'greater stage' of America East Conference?
A new conference doesn’t necessarily mean unfamiliar opponents for the Bryant women’s basketball team.
The Bulldogs took on four America East foes in 2021-22. They’ll now face UMass Lowell, Albany, Vermont and New Hampshire — along with four other programs — home-and-home as part of their move from the Northeast Conference.
Bryant was picked in a tie for seventh place with the Wildcats at Wednesday’s virtual media day. The River Hawks were just ahead in sixth place while Maryland-Baltimore County is expected to finish at the bottom of the league. The Great Danes snagged seven of nine first-place votes to take the favorite’s role.
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“We have full knowledge of these programs — the quality of coaches, the players who are in them,” Bryant coach Mary Burke said. “I’m sure we’ll have our program ready to go and will be ready to meet these challenges and put our best foot forward.”
The Bulldogs fell on the road to UMass Lowell and Albany last season. They also dropped a home game to the Catamounts that slipped away in the second half. Bryant’s lone win against the group was a home triumph against New Hampshire.
“It really puts our program on a higher level and a greater stage,” Burke said. “I know our players are really looking forward to it.”
What was a 10-22 struggle overall included a near-Cinderella finish — the Bulldogs were 40 minutes from a first NCAA Tournament berth since moving to Division I. They upset St. Francis Brooklyn and Fairleigh Dickinson on the road before falling to Mount St. Mary’s in the NEC title game. Taking out the top two seeds and pushing the third-place finisher in the regular season validated Burke’s observations on her team.
“The fact that we could peak and beat the best teams in the conference on their home floors in the conference tournament just spoke volumes to the level of talent that we had,” Burke said. “It was just about the process and getting to that chemistry and playing well together.”
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The Bulldogs expect to feature Mariona Planes Fortuny in the post, Nicole Gallagher on the wing and Lucie Castagne in the backcourt. They’ll give Burke scoring in the paint, shooting from the outside and pressure defense against opposing guards, respectively. Alana Perkins added 37.6% shooting from 3-point range last season.
“I think we proved last year when we’re playing our best basketball we can actually beat anyone,” Burke said. “Really trying to take a tick up from where we finished last year.”
Albany counted two of the six players on the preseason all-league team in guard Kayla Cooper and forward Helene Haegerstrand. Maine was picked second with guard Anne Simon and the Catamounts earned a first-place vote in third with forward Anna Olsen and guard Emma Utterback. NJIT was selected fourth and Binghamton claimed the final first-place vote in fifth with guard Denai Bowman.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: America East expects a 7th-place finish for Bryant women's basketball
