SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind a 27-point outburst from senior point guard Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.), the Bryant University women's basketball team took down Vermont, 72-55, Tuesday night in Burlington, Vt.

The win marks the Bulldogs' (2-0) second consecutive and is the first 2-0 start in Division I program history, while the Catamounts (0-2) drop their second game in four days.

Jenniqua Bailey led all scorers with 27 points, 12 in the last two minutes of play, on 15-20 shooting from the charity stripe to go along with six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Junior forward Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) put up 16 and 13 for her first double dip effort of the season, while Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Mass.) finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and a career-best three blocks.

Kylie Butler paced Vermont with 15 points, while Niki Taylor chipped in 10 points and seven boards.

Bryant put together a gutsy performance to steal a win on the road against a solid team, shooting just 32 percent from the field and going 1-for-13 from long range. The Bulldogs went 37-for-46 from the free throw line, the most makes and attempts for the Black and Gold since Jan. 6, 2014 at Wagner.

After finding themselves in a 9-4 deficit after the under-16 media timeout, the Bulldogs began to settle down, eventually taking their first lead of the contest, 14-13, at the 10:24 mark on an Alex Klein (Waterloo, Ont.) jumper.

Bryant rode a 12-2 run over the course of 4+ minutes to open up a 22-15 edge with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Black and Gold upped their lead to nine points, their largest of the game, off a pair of Ivory Bailey (Wyomissing, Pa.) free throws at the 1:51 mark before an Atwood 3-pointer brought the Catamounts back with striking distance, 29-23, heading into the locker room.

Rucker led the visitors at the half with eight points and a game-high seven rebounds, while Atwood paced Vermont with eight points of her own on 3-of-3 shooting.

The Bulldogs opened the second half the same way they closed the first, going on a quick, 8-2 run to push their advantage to 12 points thanks to the dominance of Rucker on the glass who notched a double-double with her 10th rebound at the 16:51 mark. However, UVM would not allow the game to get out of hand, knocking down another timely three to make it 37-28 at the under-16 media break.

Bryant's double-digit edge held tough until five-straight points from the Catamounts brought the hosts back within six, the smallest deficit since halftime, with just under 10 minutes to play. The Cats were able to cut it to just four points until a Leigha Tacey (Foxboro, Mass.), who finished with three points and five boards, free throw and a pair of buckets from Olander helped Bryant back to a comfortable nine point lead at the under-eight timeout.

After Vermont cut the lead to seven with under four minutes to play, the Bulldogs went on to close the game on a 16-6 run to clinch its second-straight double-digit victory of the season, 72-55.

Looking ahead, Bryant will continue its busy stretch of four games in eight days when it hosts Canisius, Friday night at 7 p.m. in Smithfield.