Bulldogs down Seahawks, 58-55, eliminate hosts from NEC postseason running

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – After going up a quarter-high 12 points in the fourth, Wagner's Kellie Crouch cut the margin to three, following three fourth-quarter triples, but the Bryant University women's basketball team was able to hold on through the final two and a half minutes to stay undefeated in Staten Island, downing the Seahawks, 58-55.

Sophomore Haley Connors (West Hartford, Conn.)  hit her third bucket from deep to give the Bulldogs (15-13, 10-7 NEC) back a double-digit lead, 54-44, this time in transition off the pass up the sideline from classmate Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) with 8:27 remaining in the fourth. After a scoreless start for Crouch, she dialed up an NBA-range three as the shot clock was winding down to end the Seahawks' (4-24, 3-14) three-minute dry spell. Crouch wasn't done there, hitting back-to-back triples from the elbow extended to cut the Bryant lead to three, 58-55, with 2:27 to go.

With just over a minute to play, senior Morgan Olander's (Mansfield, Conn.) jumper rattled out, but the Bryant defense held strong down the other end. Wagner came up with a steal on the Bulldogs' next trip down the floor and first-year head coach Heather Jacobs called a timeout with 13.9 seconds to play. She drew up the play for Crouch but the guard passed it off to Julia McClure, who tried to draw the shooting foul from behind the arc, but Olander didn't bite. The Bulldogs wasted the remainder of the clock to stay undefeated in Staten Island and eliminate Wagner from the postseason contention, winning, 58-55.

Senior Alex Klein (Waterloo, Ont.) led the Bulldogs' scoring effort, putting up a game-high 19, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists. Olander finished as the Bulldogs' only other double-digit scorer, totaling 14 off a 7-for-11 mark. Freshman Masey Zegarowski's (Hamilton, Mass.) and Connors each scored nine points, as Connors led the team with three from behind the arc. Wagner freshman Kerstie Phillips totaled 17 points off an 8-for-16 mark, while Tanasia Williams added 10.

The Bulldogs shot 42.9 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent from three and 75 percent from the line. Wagner finished 38.6 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from behind the arc and 100 percent from the chalk. Bryant edged out Wagner on the glass, 36-32, while both teams finished with 17 rebounds, respectively.

The Bulldogs opened the first quarter on a 10-2 run, as Olander stroked 3-for-3 from the field during the Bryant scoring stint. After going up a quarter-high nine points, a series of bad shots by the Bulldogs were translated into transition points for the Seahawks, as the hosts pulled within four, 18-14, with 3:01 to play in the first. After trading field goals, the Bulldogs took a four-point edge, 20-16, at the end of the first stanza.

The Bulldogs again had another hot start to the quarter, outscoring the Seahawks, 12-2, as three different Bulldogs contributed to the scoring effort in the beginning of the second. Zegarowski hit one from deep, pushing Bryant's lead to 14, 32-18, with 4:39 to go in the opening half. The Seahawks responded with a 10-2 run, including threes from Taylor Butigian and Sydney Sabino. Sabino's three came in transition off a Bryant turnover, as Wagner finished with 13 points off 11 Bryant cough ups in the first half. Freshman Sydney Holloway's (Morgantown, W. Va.) 2-for-2 mark from the chalk gave the Black and Gold a 36-28 edge at the break.

After starting the third with nine-straight points, the Seahawks finally got on the board in the period after McClure converted the three-point play from the line at the 6:07 mark. Olander accounted for four-of-nine points, reaching double-figure points off a foul-line jumper, pushing Bryant's lead to 10, 38-28, with 9:13 to play in the third. Olander and Klein began to work the high-low game, finding each other on two occasions, including Klein's dish to the cutting Olander for the right-handed lay-in. The next trip down the floor, Klein knocked down her fifth field goal of the game, giving Bryant its largest lead of the game, 44-28, with 6:26 remaining in the third.

The big lead was short lived, as Bryant went scoreless for nearly six minutes, while Wagner enjoyed a 12-0 run, closing within four, 44-40. Connors stroked her second from deep, as Bryant carried a 47-42 advantage into the final 10 minutes of play.

The fourth would come as close as a three-point Wagner deficit with 2:27 to play, but the Bulldogs pulled it out, winning, 58-55, knocking the Seahawks out of the running for the NEC tournament.

At 10-7 with one game to play in the regular season, the Bulldogs sit tied with Mount St. Mary's in fourth. 

The Bulldogs return to Smithfield on Monday for a 7 p.m. tip against Central Connecticut.