SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Canisius women's basketball team couldn't overcome an 11-point deficit late in the second half and fell 71-68 at Bryant University on Friday night.

All five Canisius starters scored in double figures for the first time in more than six years. Junior Tiahana Mills had 16 points in 35 minutes while senior Kayla Hoohuli posted 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals in 35 minutes. Junior Jasmine Mungo scored a career-high 10 points to go along with seven rebounds. Junior Crystal Porter added 12 points and eight rebounds while junior Emily Weber scored a career-high 14 points.

“Our comeback ran out of time because we dug ourselves a big hole with that lull in the second half. Good teams find ways to fight through those stretches,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “We showed a lot of grit to have a chance at the end, but lost our focus for a stretch that ended up costing us.”

A three-point play from Weber brought the Griffs within one at 10-9 with 13:08 left in the first half. Bryant then scored eight straight points to take an 18-9 lead. Canisius would use a nine-point run, including back-to-back jump shots from Porter, to take its first lead of the game at 21-20. After Bryant built a 28-23 lead, the Griffs closed the half with final six points to take a one-point lead into the locker room.  

Bryant scored 30 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, crashing the offensive glass and getting to the foul line to build a lead as big as 12 points. The Bulldogs scored 12 of their 16 second-chance points in the second half and went to the free-throw line 10 times during that opening part of the second half.

Canisius chipped away at the lead, using an 8-1 run to make it 64-59 after two free throws from Mills with 2:56 left. Bryant maintained that five-point lead until the final seconds. A steal from Mills with 21 seconds left gave the ball to Canisius, with Hoohuli finding Weber under the basket for a layup. On the ensuing inbounds play, Mills again stole the ball and was fouled on her field goal attempt. The junior split two free throws to make it 69-67. After Bryant split two free throws, Mills was fouled on a drive to the basket with 3.5 seconds left. Mills made the first and missed the second on purpose in an attempt to get the offensive rebound. Bryant was able to corral the rebound, missed the first free throw and made the second to go up three with 1.5 seconds left. The Griffs got the ball into the frontcourt but couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer.

Tiersa Winder led Bryant (3-0) with 16 points. Breanna Rucker ahd 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jenniqua Bailey had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Canisius (0-2) returns to the Koessler Athletic Center for its home opener on Wednesday night. The Golden Griffins host three-time defending America East champion Albany, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

Notes: The last time Canisius had five starters score in double figures was Feb. 8, 2008, against Siena… Hoohuli had seven or more rebounds for the ninth time in her career and also had at least three steals for the ninth time as well… Weber's previous career high was 12 points at Michigan State last season… Canisius scored 38 points in the paint, more than any game during the 2013-14 season.