Bulldogs find 22nd and final lead change at the end of three, hold on to win, 70-61

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After 22 lead changes, the Bryant University women's basketball team went up six at the end of the third and never looked back, battling through a dominant fourth quarter to win, 70-61, over Wagner on Monday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (9-8, 4-2 NEC) entered the fourth quarter with a six-point lead, 55-49, and after three quarters of back-and-forth play, the Black and Gold came alive against the Seahawks (1-16, 0-6) in the final 10 minutes of play. Junior Naomi Ashley (Hamilton, Ont.) dominated in the second half, finishing with a career-high 17 points, including six in the fourth quarter alone. The guard hit 6-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line, while totaling eight rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes of play.

With 5:54 to go in the fourth, sophomore Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) drained a deep three that gave Bryant a nine-point edge, 60-51. A pair of Alex Klein (Waterloo, Ont.) free throws gave Bryant its largest lead of the game, 70-59, with 20 seconds to go.

The Bulldogs finished with four players in double figures, including Klein, who scored a game-high 20 points off 5-of-11 from the field and 10-of-12 from the line. Palmer finished with 13 and senior Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Conn.) added 10. The Bulldogs shot a season-high 50.0 percent from the floor, after shooting 56.5 percent in the second half. Palmer hit Bryant's two made threes on the game, while the team shot 75.9 percent from the line.

Wagner came out hot in the first quarter, taking an early 6-2 edge just 1:44 into the contest. After trailing for just over two minutes, Palmer drilled a corner three off the inbounds play to put Bryant up one, 7-6, with 6:56 to play in the first. Wagner's Julia McClure responded back with a triple on the ensuing play, which ignited four more lead changes in the remainder of the quarter.

Freshman Masey Zegarowski (Hamilton, Mass.) set the pace for the Bulldogs in the second, knocking down a 16 footer to give Bryant a 16-15 lead. Bryant followed with a 5-0 run, including three points by freshman Sydney Holloway (Morgantown, W. Va.), earning its largest lead, 21-18, with 6:44 to pay in the half. Wagner came ready to play, countering with an 11-4 run to take a four-point advantage, 29-25, with 1:52 to go in the period. Ashley knocked down two free throws, before taking it hard to the basket, earning the and-one play at the line, as Bryant closed on a 7-2 run to take a one-point advantage at the break, 32-31.

The first half saw 18 lead changes and nine tied scores, as the Seahawks grabbed two more rebounds than the Bulldogs, totaling 11 second-chance points. Wagner fired off 10 more shots than the Bulldogs, but Bryant connecting on 10-of-23, finishing 43.5 percent from the floor. The Black and Gold coughed the ball up eight times in the opening 20 minutes, including five steals by the Seahawks.

Bryant opened the third on a 6-0 run, but the Bulldogs' five-point edge was short lived, as the Seahawks shot their way back to a tie, 36-36, including Jack Dluhi's three. It wasn't until the final 2:35 of the third quarter that either team put together three-straight baskets from the floor since the end of the second. Again, it was the Bulldogs to do so, capping off the third on a 7-0 run, including layups from Ashley, Klein and Olander. The scoring frenzy gave Bryant their largest lead of the game, as they entered the fourth with a six-point edge, 55-49. The Bulldogs went on to maintain their lead through the final 10 minutes of play, winning 70-61 over the Seahawks.

For the second-straight game and third time this season, the Bulldogs were outrebounded, this time by two, 33-31. Wagner also outshot the Bulldogs from behind the arc, hitting 5-of-19, while also dishing out one more assist, 14-13. Both teams finished with 15 turnovers.

The Bulldogs hit the road next, on their longest trip of the season, traveling to take on Robert Morris on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Saint Francis Pa. on Monday at 7 p.m.