BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Despite battling foul trouble for the entirety of the contest, the Bryant University women's basketball team topped LIU Brooklyn, 76-66, Saturday afternoon at the Steinberg Wellness Center.

Thanks to a solid 21-point performance from senior guard Courtney Schissler (Branford, Conn.), the Bulldogs (11-9, 6-3 Northeast Conference) snap a two-game skid, while LIU (4-16, 2-7 NEC) continues to struggle on its current five-game homestand.

Schissler led all scorers with 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep while forward Meredith Soper (Winthrop, Mass.) added a huge second half effort with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior point guard Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.) finished with 15 points while classmate Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.) put up a near double-double performance, finishing with 11 points and nine boards (four away from 1,000 career rebounds). Sophomore guard Tiersa Winder (Baltimore, Md.) was sharp off the bench, chipping in eight points and six rebounds in arguably her best performance of the season.

Letava Whippy led LIU with 16 points and nine rebounds while Cleandra Roberts put up a double double, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The offensive struggles plagued both teams in the early going, but it was Bryant who found themselves up 11-9 at the under-12 media break. The Bulldogs pushed their edge to five points but back-to-back buckets from Whippy gave LIU their first lead of the contest, 19-18, since the opening minutes.

After a slow start, both teams started to heat up in the latter part of the first half with LIU holding a 28-26 lead at the under-four media timeout. The Blackbirds were able capitalize on Bryant turnovers at the end of the period, taking a 33-29 lead into the locker room.

Ankoma-Mensa led the Black and Gold with 10 points and six boards at the break, with Bailey adding nine points in 11 minutes. Roberts paced Long Island with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Bryant opened second half on an 8-0 run (all scored by Schissler) to retake the advantage, 37-33 with just under 16 minutes left in the game. The Blackbirds then fought back, pulling ahead, 41-40, as the two teams traded the lead back-and-forth through until eight-straight points from Soper granted Bryant the 54-47 lead with under seven minutes to play.

The Black and Gold maintained their six-point buffer, 59-53, at the final media timeout of the contest until back-to-back layups from Bailey gave the visitors their first double digit lead of the game, 66-56, with 2:11 left on the clock.

A strong defensive effort and clutch free throws in the final two minutes of play helped Bryant secure the 76-66 victory, snapping a two-game skid in the process.

The Black and Gold will head back to Smithfield for a home-heavy month of February with six of the next seven at the Chace Athletic Center. Next up, the Bulldogs will look to make it a clean sweep vs. Saint Francis U. Monday evening at 7 p.m.

For all the latest news on the Bryant University women's basketball team, visit BryantBulldogs.com.