Women's hoops improves to 3-0 with 71-68 win over Canisius Friday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. –Behind a truly balanced effort, the Bryant University women's basketball team held off Canisius, 71-68, Friday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

A Taiahana Mills steal set up an Emily Weber lay in with 14 seconds left on the clock to cut the Bulldog (3-0) lead to three, 69-66. The Golden Griffins (0-2) got possession back just seconds later after Bryant was unable to inbound the ball, sending Mills to the line where she made 1-of-2 to cut the lead to just a bucket but visitors were unable to get any closer as the Black and Gold hung on for their third-straight victory, 71-68.

Junior guard Tiersa Winder (Baltimore, Md.) paced Bryant with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists, while senior point guard Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.) put up 15 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the free through line to go along with five assists and five rebounds.

Junior Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) put up her second-straight double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore center Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Conn.) tied her career high with 13 points to go along with nine boards in arguably her best game as a Bulldog. Sophomore Alex Klein (Waterloo, Ont.) put together a tremendous hustle game, grabbing eight boards in 15 minutes off the bench.

All five Canisius starters scored double digits led by Mills' 16 and Weber's 14. Kayla Hoohili finished with 12 points and a team-high nine boards, while Crystal Porter and Jasmine Mungo added 12 and 10, respectively.

After a back-and-forth opening few minutes the Bulldogs began to open up an early edge at the under-12 media timeout, 18-9, behind a 3-pointer from Dani Anderson (Wellington, Kan.) and five-straight points from Winder. However, an 11-2 run brought the Golden Griffins within a point, 20-19, with 8:27 left in the first half.

Canisius eventually took a brief lead, 21-20, off a Mungo layup at the 7:26 mark, but the Black and Gold quickly erased it thanks for four-straight points from Jenniqiua Bailey. The Bulldogs held their slim advantage through almost the rest of the first half until a pair of Mungo free throws put the visitors up, 29-28, heading into halftime.

Winder led all scorers with seven points at the half while Mills and Weber both put up six for Canisius.

The hosts burst out of the locker room with some aggressive play, attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line, and in turn opened up a 38-33 lead at the 15:30 mark. The Griffs continued to hang around but, back-to-back and-ones from Olander and a trifecta from Winder gave Bryant its largest lead of the night, 49-38, with 12 minutes to play.

The two teams continued to battle through the final minutes of play but the Black and Gold maintained their solid lead, which stood at nine, 60-51, with 6:42 remaining on the clock. Canisius came within just two points twice in the final minute of play but, couldn't get any closer as Bryant hung on for the 71-68 W.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 3-0 for the first time in program history since the 2006-07 season. Looking ahead, Bryant will put its perfect record on the line when it heads to Boston College on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tip.