HANOVER, N.H. – Senior Courtney Schissler (Branford, Conn.) poured in 17 second-half points and sophomore Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted her first-career double-double to pace the Bryant University women's basketball team to a 79-69 victory over Dartmouth on Tuesday night at Leede Arena.

The victory is just the second in six tries for the Bulldogs (3-6) over the Big Green (1-7). Schissler finished with 19 points to lead five double-digit scorers for the Black and Gold on the night. Dartmouth's Fanni Szabo finished with a game-high 23.

Trailing 34-33 at the half, the Black and Gold came out of the locker room on fire. Bryant canned nine of its first 11 shots of the second half to open a six-point lead, 56-50, at the second media timeout. Bryant used the long ball to get back into the game as senior Meredith Soper (Winthrop, Mass.) opened the frame with a three to give the Bulldogs a lead. Schissler followed that with a three of her own and then drilled another trifecta to make it 44-41 with 17:34 to play.

The teams then traded baskets over the next three minutes before senior Stephanie Cardamone (Freehold, N.J.) took over for the Black and Gold. She tickled the twine from deep with 14:28 left to start a personal 8-0 run and push the Bulldogs' lead to 10, 56-46. She followed with an offensive putback and then drilled her second three of the half with 13:13 left to cap her run.

Dartmouth battled back to pull within four with 7:23 left but Schissler was able to squelch the fire. The hot-shooting guard extinguished the Big Green's momentum with back-to-back triples to push Bryant's lead back to 10, 66-56, with 6:31 to play. Dartmouth would close the gap to six with under a minute to play but Schissler canned a pair of free throws and Rucker finished off a perfect pass from Schissler to account for the final tally.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that featured seven ties and eight lead changes. A Kaitana Martinez jumper gave Dartmouth its biggest lead of the half, 27-19, with 4:39 left in the half but the Bulldogs battled back. Soper and Rucker brought Bryant within four with back-to-back buckets and then Soper ripped off four-straight points, the final two coming on the heels of a Cardamone steal to tie the score at 31-31.

Bryant shot 63 percent in the second half and finished at 53 percent for the evening. Tuesday marked the first time all year that five players reached double-figures as Schissler finished with 19, senior Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.) added 15, Soper had 11 and Cardamone and Rucker each finished with 10. Bailey added seven assists and three steals and Rucker helped the Bulldogs outrebound the Big Green, 39-25, with a career-high 12 caroms. Dartmouth shot 50 percent from the field but just 52 percent (12-for-23) from the free throw line.

The Bulldogs have over a week off before they return to the court again, hosting UMass Lowell on Friday, Dec. 20. Bryant will be holding Midday Madness prior to the 11:00 a.m. tip with the River Hawks at the Chace Athletic Center.