SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind another tremendous performance from senior forward Naana Ankoma-Mensa (Brampton, Ont.), the Bryant University women's basketball team earned a much-needed victory over Central Connecticut State University, 81-50, Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center.

In desperate need of a win, the Bulldogs (12-10, 7-5 Northeast Conference) answered the bell with a true team effort, while the Blue Devils (9-12, 3-8 NEC) continue to struggle, dropping their fourth straight.

Ankoma-Mensa led Bryant with her ninth double-double effort of the season, finishing with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman Morgan Olander (Mansfield, Conn.) chipped in a career-high 13 points and six boards off the bench. Meredith Soper (Winthrop, Mass.) inched closer to the 1,000 point mark with another solid 11 point, nine rebound outing.

Freshman Aleah Epps poured in a career-best 15 points to pace the Blue Devils and Nicole Ferguson added 11, both off the bench.

In all, 13 Bulldogs made their way into the scoring column with eight Bryant players scoring at least five points. Bryant also got 33 points from bench players, the most through 22 games this season.

Looking to get back on track after dropping a tough one Monday night, the Bulldogs wasted little time establishing their dominance opening up an 8-0 advantage in the opening minutes of the contest. The Bryant lead was as large as nine, but sloppy play on both ends prevented either team from establishing any type of offensive rhythm.

As the half continued, Bryant went on to open a 10-0 run to push its edge to double digits where it remained until the halftime break. Bryant led the Blue Devils at the half, 37-25, thanks to 12 points and eight rebounds in the first frame from Ankoma-Mensa, while Epps led Central Connecticut off the bench with nine points in just nine minutes.

The hosts began to exert their dominance in the first four minutes of the second half, pushing the edge to 17 points, 46-29, at the under-16 media break. The Bryant lead ballooned to as high as 21 points at the 15:20 mark but the Blue Devils continued to hang around, down 55-37 with 11 minutes to play.

Central cut the lead down to 14 around the nine minute mark but a couple of big buckets from Soper put Bryant back in the driver's seat, 61-44. The Black and Gold kept the pressure on down the stretch, cruising to a convincing 81-50 victory.

The Bulldogs will have just one day to prepare for a very dangerous Wagner team who makes its way to Smithfield Monday evening to a 7 p.m. tip.

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