Bulldogs travel to Black Bear country, taking on Maine Saturday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - After dropping a tough battle to Providence, the Bryant University women's basketball team hits the road, looking to break a four-game losing streak against Maine on Saturday at 1 p.m.

THE SERIES
This contest will mark the sixth meeting between the Bulldogs (2-6) and Black Bears (7-4) in Division I play. The Bulldogs visit Orono with a 3-2 edge over the Black Bears, including last years' win, 65-52, in Smithfield.

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
Maine relies on most of the production from its upperclassmen, starting four seniors and one junior in their latest contest against Dartmouth.

The home team started their season with three-straight wins against Vanguard (70-55), Stonehill (77-58) and at Harvard (64-53), before losing to Boston College (55-48). In their latest match against Dartmouth, the Black Bears defeated the Big Green, 59-41, on the road.

The Black Bears are lead offensively by junior Sigi Koziar, who is averaging 16.9 points through the first 11 games. The guard shoots 48.9 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and 83.8 percent from the line, while averaging 34.0 minutes of play per game. The junior also leads the team in assists per contest with 4.1.

The post is led by Liz Wood, who has started all 11 games for the Black Bears, averaging 9.3 points in 31.7 minutes of play per contest. The senior leads the squad in rebounds per game, averaging 7.6, including 5.6 on the defensive end.

THE COMEBACK
After trailing by as much as 15 in the second quarter, the Bulldogs clawed their way back into the game, entering halftime only down by six, after an 11-point run. A made free throw by Morgan Olander started the streak for the visitors, followed by back-to-back threes from Ivory Bailey and Kierra Palmer to pull the Bulldogs within eight. Senior Breanna Rucker added a pair of buckets, closing the gap to four just before the half. The Black and gold brought the same intensity into the pursuing quarter, taking the first lead of the game after trailing since 6:38 in the first period. A layup from Dani Anderson gave the Bulldogs a 3-point lead, the largest of the night at the six minute mark in the third.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
After recording 22 double-doubles in the 2014-15 campaign, Rucker recorded her fourth double-double of the 2015-16 season at Providence, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds. In the power forward's best double-double performance of the season, she racked up a season-high 15 boards, while also equating 20 points, after shooting 7-11 from the floor, 2-2 from three-point land and 4-4 from the line against UMass Lowell.

Bailey recorded her first double-double of the season off 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Klein logged her first career double-double off 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds against Brown. 

BOUNDS BY THE POUND
One of the Bulldogs' biggest strength is their performance on the glass, both offensively and defensively, out-rebounding all eight of their competitors thus far.

Facing a taller team in Providence, the Bulldogs still managed to out-rebound the Friars by 12 overall with the margin coming on the offensive glass. Bryant accumulated 21 offensive boards, while the Providence only managed nine.

With the team's leading rebounder in Rucker out for the game, the Bulldogs still out-rebounded Brown by 18, grabbing 16 more offensive rebounds than the Bears. Klein and Ivory both recorded double-digit boards, while Olander grabbed nine and Anderson found eight of her own.

Despite Massachusetts' size and athleticism, the Bulldogs were able to outrebound them by nine, led by Rucker, who grabbed 11 rebounds and Alex Klein with seven.

In the first match of the season, Bryant outrebounded Seton Hall by 15, with two players finishing in double digits. In the fourth quarter alone, the Bulldogs grabbed 10 offensive boards, with senior Breanna Rucker leading the way. Junior Morgan Olander finished the game with 10 total rebounds, while Rucker ripped down 12.

Olander has recorded two double-digit rebounding games, while Rucker has managed double-digit rebounds in four of five contests, including a season-high 15 on two occasions (at UMass Lowell and at Holy Cross).

The backcourt has been impactful on the glass, with Winder averaging 3.4 and Bailey with 5.6 per game, including a season-high seven rebounds in the last two contests.

The Bulldogs finished with a season-high of 50 boards against Vermont. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Catamounts by 19, including 18 on the offensive glass and 32 defensively. The Black and Gold currently outrebound their competitors by 13 boards per game, placing them first in the Northeast Conference.

DEFENSE BEYOND THE ARC
Opponents have been able to find success from three-point land against the Bulldogs. Through the first eight games, Bryant has allowed opponents to shoot 45.6 percent from behind the arc, placing them last in the Northeast Conference in 3-point field goal percentage defense.

The Bulldogs only allowed Providence eight 3-point attempts, but the Friars sank five of them, equating to a 62.5 percent shooting night for the home team from behind the arc. The Bears shot 55 percent from three in the game, hitting 11-for-20 from downtown. Shayna Mehta went 7-for-7 for Brown from behind the arc. The Bulldogs allowed Massachusetts to shoot 6-9 (66.7 percent) from three-point land, with two players finishing 3-4 from the outside.

In the first half against Holy Cross, the Black and Gold allowed the Crusaders to hit 5-10 (50 percent) from downtown. On the other hand, the Bulldogs allowed UMass Lowell to shoot 5-11 (45.5 percent) from three-point land in the second half of play. Cornell found the greatest success against the Bulldogs, burying 5-8 (62.5 percent) open threes, which allowed the Big Red to edge out the home team by eight. Bryant's season opener saw a tough competitor in Seton Hall, who shot 47.8 percent from downtown. The Bulldogs gave up a season-high 11 treys against the Pirates, leading to a season-high 93 points allowed.

DEFENSIVE IDENTITY
In their latest contest, the Black and Gold pressured the Friars into coughing up the ball on 15 occasions, including five in the first and four in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs forced the Bears into 10 turnovers, five of which occurred on steals, while also recording three blocks.

The Black and Gold held UMass Amherst to 14 points in the second quarter, while forcing them into two offensive turnovers. The in the third period, Bryant tied the Minutewomen, allowing only 20 points. The Bulldogs held Massachusetts to only two baskets in the paint, while also pressuring them into five turnovers in the period.

Against Vermont, the Bulldogs held the Catamounts to only seven points in the second period, with all but two of those points coming from the line. In similar fashion Vermont was only capable of putting up 10 points in the third quarter against the Bulldog defense. Bryant also held Holy Cross to 10 points in the third quarter off three jumpers and a pair of layups in 10 minutes of play.

The Black and Gold have captured 125 total defensive rebounds, averaging 25 per game, which places them fourth in the NEC. The Bryant defense was able to hold Seton Hall to a period-low 14 points in the fourth quarter, while also only allowing UMass Lowell 12 points in the final period.

FOUR QUARTERS
Under the new NCAA rule, women's basketball has revised the game to four 10-minute quarters, instead of two 20-minute halves.

Thus far, the Bulldogs have dominated in the middle two quarters, holding opponents to an average of 18.2 points each in the second and third quarter vs. an average of 24.87 points in the first and fourth quarter respectively.

Against the Friars, the Bulldogs held the Friars to 34 points in the second and third periods combined, while allowing a total of 54 in the first and fourth. While holding Providence to quarter-lows in the middle quarters, the Bulldogs also outscored the Friars by 10, 44-34, in the 20-minute span.

The Bulldogs help the Minutewomen to a period-low 14 points in the second quarter and the second lowest 20 points in the third, while giving up a combined 52 points in the first and fourth.

Against Holy Cross, Bryant held the Crusaders to 24 combined points in the second and third period, while allowing 41 total points in the first and last 10-minute periods.

The Bulldogs allowed 39 points to Seton Hall in the first quarter, but held them to 14 in the fourth. Similarly, the Bulldogs allowed UMass Lowell 21 points in the first, while restricting the River Hawks to 12 in the final 10 minutes of regulation. The opposite story happened against Cornell, holding them to 15 in the first, but allowing 26 in the fourth.

Against Vermont, the Black and Gold prevented the Catamounts from scoring more than seven points in the second quarter, including only one made basket from the floor. In the fourth quarter, Vermont fought to within 10 of the Bulldogs, outscoring the home team 18-14, but the Bryant lead in the second quarter proved to be too much of a deficit for the Catamounts to claw back from.

THE STARTING FIVE
Returning to Bryant's starting lineup is reigning NEC Player of the Year Breanna Rucker and NEC Rookie of the Year Ivory Bailey. Joining them is center Morgan Olander and shooting guard Tiersa Winder, all of which started for the Bulldogs last year. Junior Chanel Ramcharran came off the bench against Seton Hall and provided the leadership the Bulldogs needed. Since then the point guard has started the next five contests for the Bulldogs. Freshmen Kierra Palmer and Haley Connors have both sparked the Bulldogs' offense in the point guard position, while junior Amanda Hinton has started the latest two matches against Providence and Brown.