Bailey leads Bulldogs with 18 points, Bryant loses to Holy Cross, 65-64, in Worcester Sunday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After trailing by as much as 13 points in the first quarter, the Bryant University women's basketball team captured the lead in the final period, but it was not enough to overcome Holy Cross, losing 65-64 on Sunday afternoon in Worcester.

Sophomore Ivory Bailey (Wyomissing, Pa.) nailed a three to open the fourth quarter, tying the game at 48's, before the Bulldogs (2-3) took their first lead of the game off a Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) bucket from behind the arc.

After the media timeout in the fourth, the Bulldogs led, 55-52. With just under three minutes to play, the game was tied at 58-58, when the Black and Gold came up with a big defensive stop. The steal was short lived, as it resulted in a Bryant turnover on the offensive end and the Crusaders (1-5) capitalized by hitting five free throws to take the lead, 63-58.

Refusing to go away, the Bulldogs battled back within two after Bailey was fouled on a three-point attempt with four seconds left. At the line, the guard nailed all three foul shots for the visitors, resulting in a 63-61 score. After a pair of Crusader free throws put the home team up by four, Winder threw up a Hail Mary at the buzzer to finalize the score, 65-64, in Holy Cross' favor.

The Crusaders led for over 31 minutes, establishing the advantage in the first period, where they shot 50% from both the floor and from three midway through the period. Infiniti Thomas-Waheed and Katie Doherty hit back-to-back treys to put the home team up, 10-4 just before the first media timeout. Again the home team found success from three-point land, nailing two in a row to help the Crusaders to their largest lead of the night, which resulted in a 20-7 score with two minutes to play in the first.

The Bulldogs found a spark towards the end of the quarter, after a Bailey three, an and-one from junior Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Conn.) and a made layup off an inbounds play by Dani Anderson (Wellington, Kan.), to close the quarter at 24-16, Holy Cross.

The Bulldogs came out blazing at the start of the second, after a Rucker steal and finish on the offensive end and a three-pointer from Chanel Ramcharran (Pickering, Ont.) to put the visitors down three.

Following the media timeout in the second period, Lisa Mifsud scored the Crusaders' next seven points, including a one from downtown to go up 36-26. Following a Bryant turnover, the Crusaders scored a breakaway layup to take a 38-26 lead. The Bulldogs finished the first half with 11 turnovers but managed to stay within nine at the close of the second quarter. Holy Cross finished the first half shooting 48% from the floor and 50% from three (5-10)

The Bulldogs began their comeback run in the third, scoring six-straight points in the opening minutes of the quarter. About midway through the period, Bailey hit a key three to pull the Bulldogs within three (44-41). Senior Tiersa Winder (Baltimore, Md.) drove through the lane and finished with a layup to close the gap to two (46-44) with just under three minutes to play in the third. The bucket counted for two of Winder's seven points in the quarter.

Freshman Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) brought Bryant within one point (46-45) after going one for two from the line. Holy Cross closed the third quarter up by three (48-45), while Bryant shot 42.9% from the floor and held the Crusaders to only 10 points in the period.

Bailey led the Bulldogs offensively with 18 points, while Winder finished with 15. Rucker recorded 15 rebounds, including nine on the defensive end and scored nine points to put her within seven points of her 1,000th career point. The Black and Gold shot 38.3% from the floor, 31.8% from behind the arc and 64.7% from the free-throw line.

The Bulldogs return to action in Smithfield on Wednesday, December 2, when they take on UMass Amherst at 5 p.m.