Bulldogs stay undefeated in NEC play, defeat Pioneers, 61-59, in fourth quarter nail-biter

FAIRFIELD, CONN. - With four lead changes in the final three minutes of the contest, the Bryant University women's basketball team came out on top, 61-59, defeating Sacred Heart to hold onto first place in the Northeast Conference.

With 25 seconds to go in the game, junior Alex Klein (Waterloo, Ont.) found the game-winning layup to put the Bulldogs (12-8, 9-0) up by one, 60-59, allowing Bryant to retain its perfect conference record at 9-0. The Bulldogs began the fourth quarter up by three, before allowing redshirt junior Hannah Kimmel to carry the Pioneers (9-11, 7-2) to a three-point lead off six-straight points from the swing player. Senior Tiersa Winder (Baltimore, Md.) matched Kimmel's three, hitting one of her own to tie the contest, 46-46, with 7:36 to go.

At the height of the final period, sophomore Ivory Bailey (Wyomissing, Pa.) pushed the margin to five, 56-51, in Bryant's favor, after stroking back-to-back threes with 3:46 on the clock. At the 3:13 mark, the Pioneers pulled back to even, 56-56, following two made free throws from Adaysha Williams. The offensive rebound and put-back by senior Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) gave the Bulldogs back the lead, 58-57, at the 1:58 mark, before Williams' bucket down the other end claimed the Pioneer one-point Pioneer edge.

Williams would give up the Pioneers' next possession, which forced the home team to foul down the stretch, sending Rucker to the line, where she claimed Bryant's two-point lead, 61-59, with four seconds to play. In a last-ditch effort, the Pioneers chucked up a half-court shot as time expired, resulting in a Bryant victory and a two-game cushion atop Sacred Heart.

Rucker recorded her 10th double-double of the season, as she led the Bulldogs with 17 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, including seven on the offensive boards. Bailey finished with 11 points, finding eight in the fourth quarter alone. Winder rounded out Bryant's double-digit point scorers, contributing 10, including the game-tying three, 46-46, at the 7:36 mark in the fourth. Klein added nine points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, including 3-for-3 from the line, as Bryant finished 85.7 percent from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs shot 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc in the second half, burying three in the fourth quarter alone. Bryant pushed its positive rebounding streak to 20-straight games, grabbing 13 more boards than the Pioneers. The rebounding margin results in the 12th contest of the season that the Bulldogs have recorded a double-digit rebounding differential. The Black and Gold capitalized on the offensive glass, scoring 17 second-chance points off 20 offensive boards, including 17 in the second half.

Sacred Heart had two double-digit point scorers, led by Kimmel with a game-high 22 points and Williams, who added 10. The Pioneers held Bryant to six points in the second quarter, before Bryant responded in the third, holding Sacred Heart to eight points in the third. The single-digit point total marks the eighth time this season that the Bulldogs have held an opponent to less than 10 points in a single quarter.

After trailing by 10 at the 9:22 mark in the third, the Bulldogs went on a 17-1 run, regaining the lead, 41-35, after trailing for over 10 minutes. The Bulldogs found their largest lead of the game during the run, after senior Dani Anderson (Wellington, Kan.) drained one from downtown, following a Sacred Heart turnover. Despite Bryant's edge, the Pioneers didn't disappear, closing the deficit to three, 43-40, after a 5-2 run to close out the third.

The two teams proved why they sit atop the NEC standings, recording 12 lead changes and a tied score on nine occasions. Ultimately, the Bulldogs won the battle down the stretch, sealing the 61-59 victory.

The Black and Gold return to action on ESPN3 against Central Connecticut on Monday at 7 p.m.