League-leading Bulldogs take on second-place Pioneers Saturday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Looking to stay perfect in Northeast Conference play, the Bryant University women's basketball team hits the road to battle second-place Sacred Heart on Saturday at 1 p.m.

THE SERIES
This contest will mark the 14th meeting between the Bulldogs and Pioneers with the series mark predominantly in Sacred Heart's favor, 11-2. The Bulldogs have won two of the last three meetings, but prior to Bryant's Feb. 24, 2014 victory, the Pioneers had won 10-straight times.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
The Pioneers currently sit in second in the NEC after winning their last seven conference games, placing them one game behind the Bulldogs. Through their first 19 games, the Pioneers averaged 1.1 less rebounds than their opponents, placing the advantage heavily in the Bulldogs favor, as they pull down 10.5 more boards than the opposition. Sacred Heart is lead offensively by junior Hannah Kimmel, who averages 16.4 points per game, holding the fifth slot in the league in scoring. The guard is solid across the board, shooting 39.2 percent from the floor, 33.9 from three and 71.6 from the chalk. Senior Alissa Tarsi also dominates for the Pioneers, recording 11.6 points per game, finishing 82.4 percent from the line. The forward shoots a conference-high 55.3 percent from the field while recording the NEC's fourth most offensive rebounds at 3.33 per contest.

ADVANTAGE
The Bulldogs currently sit atop the Northeast Conference with a one-game cushion over second place Sacred Heart, who they face on Jan. 30. After beating Robert Morris, Bryant took a two-game lead over the Colonials and the win over Saint Francis U. placed a three-game wedge between the Bulldogs and Red Flash.

AMONGST THE FEW
Since joining the NEC, Bryant is now one of only two teams to reach an 8-0 start, including 2012-13 Quinnipiac, who went 18-0 in the conference and won the NEC Championship.

THREE-BALL QUEEN
Despite her recent struggle from downtown, senior Tiersa Winder's first of four threes against Saint Francis U. (Jan. 25) succeeded the program's Division I record for most career 3-pointers, previously set at 132. Winder surpassed Katie Whittington (2009-13) for the top spot, who shot 34 percent from behind the arc in her four years in Smithfield. Winder currently sits at 136 career-threes made, placing her 48 away from the program's all-time record set by Joanna Skiba (2003-07).

KE-KE PAL-MER
Freshman Kierra Palmer has become the point woman for the Bulldogs, starting the last nine games while posting an 8-1 record in the lineup. The point guard has continued to show she can produce, scoring a career-high 15 points while finishing 10-for-11 from the line against Saint Francis U. (1/25/16). Palmer averages 4.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

< 70
When holding opponents to less than 70 points, the Bulldogs are 9-1, but when they allow more than the 70-point threshold, the team is 2-7, showing that Bryant is able to win games on the defensive side of the ball.

PICKING POCKETS
The Bulldogs recorded a season-high 14 steals against Saint Francis U. (Jan. 25), led by the efforts of sophomore Ivory Bailey, who grabbed a career-high five. Freshman Kierra Palmer was in on the mix, recording a career-high four, while junior Morgan Olander came off the bench with three.

OLANDER'S HOT HAND
In the last eight games, junior Morgan Olander has shot 66.7 percent (40-for-60) from the field, which leads the NEC in field goal percentage through conference play. Olander came off the bench to score 12 points, finishing 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) against Saint Francis U. on Jan. 25. The 6-2 center scored a season-high 18 points, shooting 80 percent (8-10) from the field in the, 70-59, win at Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 11. Olander shot 5-for-5 from the floor at Wagner on Jan. 9 with 10 of her 11 points coming in the second quarter alone. The center nailed 4-of-5 field goals from outside the paint, all of which hit nothing but nylon.

DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
Three Bulldogs have earned double-doubles this season, led by senior Breanna Rucker, who notched her ninth double-double of the 2015-16 season against LIU Brooklyn on Jan. 16. In the contest, Rucker recorded a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds. Rucker's nine double-doubles rank first in the NEC and 25th in the nation. In the power forward's best double-double rebounding performance of the season, she racked up a season-high 15 boards while scoring 20 points at UMass Lowell (Nov. 24), shooting 7-for-11 from the floor, 2-for-2 from 3-point land and 4-for-4 from the line. Sophomore Ivory Bailey recorded her fourth double-double of the season and fifth of her career off 10 points and 10 rebounds against Saint Francis U. (Jan. 25), marking two-straight games with such a performance. Junior Alex Klein logged her first-career double-double off 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds against Brown (Dec 6).

POP 'EM LIKE ORVILLE REDENBACHER
Senior guard Tiersa Winder has totaled a season-high four 3-pointers on three occasions this year, most recently against Saint Francis U., helping her grab the Division I program record for career-made threes. The guard occupies the eighth slot in the conference in 3-point field goals made per game (1.94) while grabbing the 15th place in 3-point field goal percentage at 30.7. Against Massachusetts, the senior went 4-of-8 from three, including two in the first quarter during her eight-point run, which stands as her highest 3-point shooting percentage game. Sophomore Ivory Bailey shot a season-high 3-of-5 (60 percent) against Central Connecticut, while going 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc against Holy Cross (Nov. 29). In the same game, the team finished 7-for-22 (31.8 percent), including 3-pointers from four different players. Junior Chanel Ramcharran has proven she can hit from 3-point land, finishing 3-for-3 from behind the arc at Mount St. Mary's (Jan. 11). In the Bulldogs' best performance of the season, they shot 56.3 percent from 3-point land at UMass Lowell (Nov. 24). In their worst performance of the season, the Bulldogs shot only 1-for-16 (6.3 percent) at Maine, with Winder nailing the only bucket from downtown.

BULLDOGS IN THE NEC
Since joining the Northeast Conference, the Bulldogs have gone 66-51 in league play, including their most successful season last year, where they finished 14-4. The Bulldogs have reached the conference tournament in the last three seasons, reaching the NEC Semifinals last year after earning a share of the regular-season title and defeating No. 7 Mount St. Mary's, 76-54, in the league quarterfinals.