Despite Bailey's career-high six threes, Wildcats deal Bulldogs their first loss of the season, 62-60, Tuesday night in Durham

DURHAM, N.H. – After leading the game for 36:46, the Bryant University women's basketball team was unable to put New Hampshire away and despite junior Ivory Bailey's (Wyomissing, Pa.) career-high six threes, the Wildcats handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season, 62-60, on Tuesday night in Durham.

The Bulldogs (3-1) came out firing from behind the arc in the fourth, as sophomore Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) found classmate Haley Connors (West Hartford, Conn.) on back-to-back threes to give Bryant a double-digit lead, 51-41, with 8:52 to play. The Wildcats (2-2) came roaring back, hitting three from deep in a two-minute span, including back-to-back threes to cut Bryant's lead to one, 51-50, with 5:28 to go in the game. In an action-packed quarter from downtown, the Bulldogs and Wildcats then traded threes, before Brittni Lai converted a three-point play from the line to tie the contest, 56-56, at the 3:12 mark in the fourth. Just 16 seconds later, Bailey drained her career-high sixth three of the game to regain the lead for the Bulldogs, 59-57.

Lai recorded her career-best 31 points after draining two free throws to give UNH their first lead since the 8:44 mark in the first quarter, 61-59, with under a minute to play. Junior Alex Klein (Waterloo, Ont.) hit one-of-two from the line to cut UNH's advantage to one, 61-60, but Carli Pogue's free throw with seven seconds left pushed the margin back to two, 62-60. In a rarely seen scenario, Palmer was called for two offensive fouls in the last 12 seconds of the game, including Bryant's last offensive possession, in which the offensive foul on the drive to the basket with just seconds to go resulted in a Bryant turnover and helped solidify the Wildcats' 62-60 victory.

In the fourth quarter alone, both teams combined for eight threes, as Lai totaled all four of UNH's, while Bailey and Connors split two and two. Bryant finished a season-best 9-for-20 (45%) from downtown, while the Wildcats went 7-for-14 (50%). Bailey stroked 6-for-11 from three, 2-for-2 from the line and 7-for-15 from the field for a team and season-high 22 points, while Lai drained 5-for-6 from behind the arc, 6-for-7 from the charity stripe and 10-for-19 from the field for a game-high 31 points. Klein finished with her fourth-straight double-digit scoring effort off 14 points, while UNH's Kat Fogarty finished with a career-best 13 points.

As a team, the Black and Gold shot 20-for-54 (37%) from the floor and 11-for-14 (78.6%) from the line. New Hampshire connected on 23-of-57 (40.4%) from the field and 9-of-15 (60%) from the line. In their closest fought battle on the boards, Bryant edged out UNH, 38-34, grabbing both two more offensive and defensive rebounds than the Wildcats. Bryant was plagued by a season-high 24 turnovers, in which only nine were off Wildcat steals.

Bailey got out to a hot start in the first half, building off her three threes against Brown, as the junior went 3-for-4 from deep, hitting two in the first quarter alone. The guards' outside shooting helped Bryant build upon its lead, as the Black and Gold gave themselves a six-point cushion heading into the second quarter.

After hitting back-to-back buckets to start the second, the Bulldogs suffered a four-minute dry spell that allowed the Wildcats to claw their way back into the game. Bailey's three at the 9:00 mark in the second gave Bryant a 22-11 lead, but after the Bulldogs' drought, UNH pulled within two, 25-23, with four seconds to go in the period. The two teams would trade baskets down the stretch in the second, as Bryant entered intermission with a four-point lead, 29-25.

In the third, the Bulldogs established a six-point cushion, 34-28, after Palmer penetrated in transition into the paint, earning the and-one from the line with 6:45 to play in the quarter. The Wildcats did not fold, pulling within one, 38-37, at the 2:36 mark in the third off a Lai three. The Black and Gold responded back with a five-point run, 44-39, to close out the quarter on top.

Just as it had occurred in the previous two quarters, the Bulldogs could not put the Wildcats away in the fourth and ultimately gave up their 36-minute advantage as Lai's pair of free throws established UNH's lead, a lead they did not give up in the final 58 seconds, as the hosts dealt Bryant its first loss of the season, 62-60.

The Bulldogs will regroup over the short holiday break and then hit the road again, taking on Rutgers on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m.