Rucker's fifth-straight double-dip leads Bryant to 79-66 win at LIU Brooklyn Sat.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A pair of double doubles from junior Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) and sophomore Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Conn.) helped the Bryant University women's basketball team take down LIU Brooklyn, 79-66, Saturday afternoon at the Steinberg Wellness Center.

The Bulldogs (8-4, 1-0 Northeast Conference) open league play with a win for the second-straight season, while the Blackbirds' (3-9, 0-1 NEC) struggles against the Black and Gold continue.

Rucker was an absolute beast on the glass, grabbing a season-high 15 rebounds to go along with a game-high 19 points for her first-straight (10th overall) double double, while Olander filled up the stat sheet with her second double dip of the season, finishing with 14 points, 11 boards, five blocks, two assists and two steals.

Junior Tiersa Winder (Baltimore, Md.) put together another strong second half, scoring 17 of her 19 points in the final 20 minutes on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point land.

Brianna Farris paced the Blackbirds with 12 points off the bench with Shanovia Dove and Sophie Bhasin combined for 21 points.

The frantic LIU Brooklyn pace made for a hectic open 10 minutes filled with a barrage of whistles but, the Bulldogs weathered the early storm to open an 18-12 lead midway through the first half. The Blackbirds took advantage of the Bryant foul trouble, cutting the visitors lead to just one, 22-21, at the under-eight media break.

Six-straight points from Rucker and Dani Anderson's (Wellington, Kan.) second 3-pointer of the afternoon helped the Black and Gold build the margin back to six points, 32-26, at the final official timeout of the half. Bryant held its slim, but steady edge heading into the locker room behind 18 combined points from Rucker and Olander.

A much more composed Bulldog squad opened the second half on a 9-3 run, widening the margin to double digits for the first time all afternoon, 46-35, at the 15:50 mark. Sharp shooting from LIU, including eight-straight from Farris, kept the hosts alive through the under-12 media timeout, but Bryant has an answer for every Blackbird push, maintaining a 55-46 edge.

Capitalizing on some miscues by the Black and Gold midway through the period, LIU fought to bring it within six, 57-51, but the visitors quickly halted the run, pushing their lead to 12 points, 63-61, within a matter of minutes.

The Black and Gold maintained their double-digit edge, 79-66, through the final buzzer, improving to 1-0 in NEC play for the second-straight year.

Looking ahead, Bryant will look to make it a sweep of NYC when they visit St. Francis Brooklyn on Monday for a 1 p.m. tip.