Bulldogs rally, defeat SHU on Senior Night

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.) and sophomore Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) both recorded double-doubles and the Bryant University women's basketball team overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Sacred Heart, 70-66, on Senior Night Monday at the Chace Athletic Center.

The victory is the Bulldogs' (14-13, 9-7 NEC) first-ever victory over the Pioneers (11-16, 8-8) and also broke a three-way tie for fourth place in the league standings. Coupled with a loss by Saint Francis U. and a victory by St. Francis Brooklyn, the Black and Gold are now in a three-way tie for third place.

Bryant trailed by 13 at the half and by as many as 16 points in the second half before mounting one of its most impressive comebacks at the Division I level. Trailing by 11, 51-40, with 14:26 left in the half, senior Courtney Schissler (Branford, Conn.) started a 10-0 run with a three-pointer from the corner and sophomore Tiersa Winder (Baltimore, Md.) followed with her first three of the game to make it 51-46. Back-to-back buckets from Rucker and senior Stephanie Cardamone (Freehold, N.J.) capped the run and pulled the Bulldogs within one, 51-50, with 10:45 to play.

The Pioneers were able to keep the Bulldogs at bay over the next two minutes but Bryant finally able to erase the deficit behind strong defense and key baskets. Rucker canned two free throws, finished off a gorgeous pass from Cardamone and Bailey gave Bryant its first lead of the night as she sliced her way to the hoop for two and a 60-59 Bulldog lead. Sacred Heart would tie the game on a free throw before freshman Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Conn.) took over. The rookie nailed consecutive shots to keep the Black and Gold ahead by two, 64-62, before Cardamone drilled a long jumper to push the Bryant lead to four.

Sacred Heart, however, was not done. The Pioneers tied the game on a Gabrielle Washington layup with 1:30 to play but senior Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.) had an answer. Playing in possibly her final home game, Ankoma-Mensa grabbed her own miss and put it off the glass to give Bryant a 68-66 lead. Winder followed with a defensive rebound with 35 seconds on the clock and Bailey canned a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left to put the game away.

Monday's first half was dominated by Sacred Heat as the Pioneers led from the get-go. SHU scored the first four points of the game and Washington's three-point play made it 7-2 just two minutes in. Hannah Kimmel then took over for the Pioneers, scoring 11-straight points to push the lead to 10 points, 20-10. Sacred Heart's lead hovered around 12 points the rest of the half as it had an answer for every Bryant bucket. Leading by nine, Washington scored six-straight points to make it 41-26 with 2:52 left in the half. Back-to-back baskets from Cardamone and Olander accounted for the 13-point deficit at the half.

Rucker tied for the game-high with 16 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the year. Bailey recorded her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds and just missed out on a triple-double as she finished with eight assists. Olander finished with 11 points and five rebounds and Cardamone added 10. Kimmel led SHU with 16 and Washington added 13 points and five rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 41 percent in the game and held Sacred Heart to just 39 percent in the contest.

The Bulldogs will now hit the road for their final two games of the season as they face St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday (March 1) and Central Connecticut on Monday (March 3).