SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Another monster game from junior forward Breanna Rucker (Cincinnati, Ohio) helped lift the Bryant University women's basketball team to a hard-fought 87-83 victory over Saint Francis U., Monday night at the Chace Athletic Center.

Two of Rucker's career-high 28 points from the free throw stripe with 3.4 seconds left helped preserve the Bulldogs (11-4, 4-0 Northeast Conference) fifth-straight victory, while the Red Flash (2-13, 1-3 NEC) saw a team-high 25 points from senior guard Alexa Hayward.

With the victory, the Black and Gold take sole lead of the top spot in the NEC standings at 4-0.

Rucker led all scorers with 28 points, including 12-of-14 from the charity stripe, and a career-high tying 16 rebounds for her 12th double double of the year. Senior point guard Jenniqua Bailey (Bloomfield, Conn.) added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while junior guard Tiersa Winder (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a career-high 10 boards to go along with nine points and four dimes.

Freshman guard Ivory Bailey (Wyomissing, Pa.) chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds with sophomore center Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Conn.) finishing with 10 points, seven caroms and two blocks. Senior guard Melissa Corraro (Shelton, Conn.) posted a career-high seven points, including four clutch free throws down the stretch, in big minutes off the bench.

Hayward paced Saint Francis U. with 25 points, with Aisha Brock adding 19 and Maya Wynn posting 11.

The Bulldogs finished with a season-high 56 rebounds, outboarding the Red Flash by 30, also a season high.

The Black and Gold wasted little time flexing their muscles Monday evening as an 11-0 run over the course of just a minute plus turned a one point deficit to a 14-4 lead less than four minutes into the contest. Bryant continued to keep its foot on the pedal, extending the margin to 16 points until a 9-0 Red Flash run brought the visitors back with seven points, 26-19, with 9:42 left until the half.

Saint Francis managed to whittle down the one-time double digit lead to just a single point, 38-37, with 2:05 left on the clock but back-to-back Bulldog layups pushed the hosts back up five. But, Hayward got a tightly contested 15-footer to fall just before the end of the half to close out the period with Bryant on top, 42-39.

Ivory Bailey led all scorers at the break with 12 points with Brock putting up 11 to lead the Red Flash.

A 5-0 Red Flash run to open the second half granted the visitors their first lead since opening minutes of the contest, 44-42, however the advantage was short lived as Bryant reclaimed the edge, 48-46, at the under-16 media timeout.

The visitors evened the score once again, 55-55, at the 12:29 mark thanks to their chaotic trap defense but five-straight points from junior sharpshooter Dani Anderson (Wellington, Kan.) see-sawed the lead back in Bryant's favor, 64-59, with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Over the next three minutes Rucker single handily kept the Bulldogs in front, scoring six-straight points to help give the Black and Gold their largest lead since the first half, 72-66, at the under-eight media break.

Ball control and sharp free throw shooting kept the Bulldogs' lead intact, 78-70, with 3:57 left to play but, a 5-0 Red Flash run over the next two minutes shrunk the margin to just three points. After trading free throws, a pair of Corraro freebies pushed Bryant's edge to five, but a Hayward bucket with 45 ticks left brought Saint Francis back within a one possession.

Two more clutch shots from the line from Corraro inched the Black and Gold edge up to five with less than 10 seconds to play however Hayward's second acrobatic basket of the contest, this time from 3-point range, brought the Red Flash within two points, 85-83, with 4.6 seconds remaining on the clock.

A pair of big-time makes at the free throw line from Rucker iced the 87-83 victory for the Bulldogs.

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will look to put its perfect 4-0 NEC mark on the line when they visit Central Connecticut State on Saturday.