Bulldogs top Iona, 77-71, in OT thriller

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MAKES IT THREE-STRAIGHT WITH WIN OVER IONA

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Paced by a career-night from junior Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.), the Bryant University women's basketball team topped Iona, 77-71, in an overtime thriller, to earn its third-straight victory of the season.

With less than 30 seconds left, junior Courtney Schissler (Branford, Conn.) intercepted an errant pass, advancing the ball up the court. Senior Katie Whittington (Twinsburg, Ohio) found Bailey at the elbow who proceeded to take the ball to the rack for her 22nd point of the night, knotting the game at 65-65.

With time expiring, Iona quickly got the ball up the court and launched a last second 3-pointer that just rimmed out, bringing the game into overtime.

In overtime, Iona jumped out to a 69-65 lead, but once again Bryant fought back, to take the lead, 73-70, off a huge trifecta from Whittington.

The lone 3-point basket of the game for the Bulldogs came at the most crucial time, as Whittington calmly knocked down the biggest shot of the night to put Bryant up for good and improve its win streak to three games.

Bailey led all scorers with a career-high 22 points, adding seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in 40 minutes of play. Freshman Maureen Leahy (Springfield, Pa.) also had a career-high, finishing with 16 points and six boards. Junior Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.) put up her fourth double-double effort (third in a row) adding 12 points and 11 boards.

Joy Adams and Aaliyah Robinson led Iona, each with 13 points, with Adams snatching a game-high 16 boards.

Bryant held the Gaels to just 31 percent shooting from the field, outrebounding their opponent for the third-straight contest, grabbing 55 boards compared to Iona's 42.

The Bulldogs now improve to 3-4 overall on the season, while the Gaels drop to 3-5 with the loss.

After a pair of triples from Iona's Haley D'Angelo, the Gaels jumped out to an 8-4 advantage to open Wednesday night's action. The Bulldogs responded, evening the score at 8-8 at the 14:30 mark of the first half.

Nearly halfway through the opening frame, the Gaels held a slight, but steady 15-10 advantage, with each of the Bryant starters contributing two points.

Aggressive play on both ends of the floor kept the Black and Gold within three, 24-21, with just under four minutes to play in the first half. The hosts closed the opening frame on a 9-5 run to head into the locker room leading, 33-26.

Bailey played possibly her best half of basketball this season in the opening period, controlling the offense and playing solid defense, heading into the half with seven points, two rebounds and two assists. Freshman Maureen Leahy led the Bulldogs at the break with eight points and two boards.

Sophomores Damika Martinez and Aleesha Powell led the Gales with eight and six points, respectively, at the half.

The Bulldogs were able to get the line ten times in the first 20 minutes of play (compared to just four times for Iona) due to their aggressive play attacking the basket on the offensive end of the floor.

Bailey picked up the right where she left off, adding six quick points and a helper in the second half to help Bryant earn its first lead of the game, 36-35, at the 15:57 mark.

The Gaels responded, after evening the score at 38-38, Diana Hubbard buried a pair of 3-pointers to regain the advantage for the hosts, 44-38, six minutes into the final frame.

After losing the lead for a few brief moments, Iona regained the advantage, and jumped out to a 52-42 margin with 11 minutes to play in the contest.

The Bulldogs responded with a few solid defensive stops, capitalizing on the offensive end with a pair of layups to cut the advantage to 61-53. Every time Bryant made a push to cut into the Iona lead, the Gaels responded with a run of their own to maintain a solid lead.

Iona's Joy Adams knocked down a pair of free throws to give the hosts a 10-point advantage at the 5:42 mark, however the Bulldogs responded with two Danielle Douglas (Silver Springs, Md.) free throws and a Bailey layup to cut the margin to 63-57 with just under four minutes to play in the contest.

The Bulldogs fought all the way back to even the score at 63-63 at the 1:34 mark after trailing for the majority of the game.

The Bulldogs would come from behind in overtime to capture their third-straight win, 77-71.

Bryant heads home to Smithfield for a pair of games against Maine on Monday, Dec. 10 and Holy Cross on Friday, Dec. 21.

For all the latest news on the Bryant University women's basketball team, visit BryantBulldogs.com.