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Women's College Basketball
Rider University 77, Siena College 73 (ot)
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y.?Rider sophomore Tammy Meyers (Willingboro) scored a career-high 27 points including a three-pointer at the buzzer in regulation to force overtime as the Broncs snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 77-73 win at Siena Sunday afternoon. “This was a team effort today,” said head coach Lynn Milligan. “As a group, we got together and said ?what do I need to do as an individual to get us to play better as a team'? We talked about it, then executed the plan.”
Meyers added five rebounds, four assists and four steals in 35 minutes of action.
“It was a great pass by Danielle (Costantino) and I actually had to step back behind the line and let it go,” said Meyers of the shot that was released from her hand as the red lights came on at the end of regulation. “I didn't think it was good until it went in. It is every players dream to make a tying shot or a game-winner and I give all the credit to the coaches. They drew it up and we just executed the play.”
Rider trailed by three with 5.1 seconds left after two Saint free throws to setup the Meyers shot. Junior Danielle Costantino (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) took the inbounds pass and dribbled fifty feet to the three-point line, passing to Meyers out of a double-team. Meyers spotted up and hit her second three of the game, forcing the extra period.
“Danielle is the type of player that just listens to everything she is told to do,” said Milligan. “We drew the play up exactly the way it was run. Danielle could have forced up a shot but we told her second pass to Tammy and she executed the play to perfection and Tammy hit a great shot.”
“Tammy is a solid player,” Milligan said. “She is a big, strong guard and she is fundamental and exudes the skills of a good player. She is a match up problem for a lot of teams because of her size and strength. She was explosive today.”
“It was an amazing effort by our kids,” Milligan said. “I said after the last game that we were close and I was seeing this effort in practice. Today, we saw that effort and intensity on the court. We are taking the steps that we need to and we are starting to believe we are capable of this every game.”
In the overtime, Siena scored the first bucket before Rider (6-14, 1-8 MAAC) went on a 5-0 run, three points by sophomore Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun) to take a 66-63 lead with 4:18 left, the eighth and final lead change of the game. Sepulveda had seven of Rider's 16 points in the extra session and scored 21 in the game with a career-high five three point field goals while logging a career-high 43 minutes.
“You do get tired of losing and today, we played as a team,” said Sepulveda. “If someone made a mistake, the other four on the court picked that player up and we did that the whole game and kept our eyes on the prize which was to win the game.”
“Amanda is a tough kid and we are asking a lot of her,” Milligan said. “To be a point guard, in a new system as a sophomore, logging the minutes that she is playing, Amanda is doing a terrific job. No one is working harder than she is. She is a ?gym rat' and she knows what she has to do for us to be successful.”
“I didn't think, I just played,” Sepulveda said. “I'm more successful when I don't try to over think a play. “As a team, we were able to help each other by staying positive. If we made a mistake, we picked each other up and didn't dwell on the mistake. We focused on making the next play instead of compounding the mistake by not concentrating on making the next stop. Our communication on the floor was the key today. You can't change the past but you can learn from it while not dwelling on it.”
After another Saint field goal, the Broncs used a 4-0 run, two points each by junior Shaunice Parker (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) and senior Janele Henderson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) to take a five point lead 70-65 with just under two minutes remaining. Parker also scored seven in overtime and notched her eighth career ?double-double' and sixth of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Henderson had 14 points in 39 minutes of play.
Trailing by six with a minute left, Siena (7-12, 3-6 MAAC) hit a three-pointer and after a missed free throw by the Broncs hit one free throw to get to within two with 11 seconds but that was as close as the Saints would get with Parker sealing the game with a free throw with one second remaining.
Trailing by seven with 18 minutes left in regulation, Siena went on a 19-6 run to lead by eight with eight minutes left in the second half.
Rider countered with a 7-0 run, three points by Sepulveda to get within one 51-50 with just under five minutes left in regulation.
Trailing by four with two minutes left, a 5-1 run by Rider (three points by Sepulveda) tied the game with a minute left in the second half.
“Everyone did what they had to do today,” Milligan added. “We were only out rebounded by one and we won the offensive glass by three.”
In a sloppy first half, each team turned the ball over 10 times and trailing by seven, Rider used a 9-0 run, six points by Meyers to take a 26-24 lead at the half. That marked the first time since an 18-13 halftime lead against Princeton on December 29 that Rider had led at intermission. The Broncs only committed four turnovers the entire second half and overtime.
The Saints lead the all-time series 19-4 with Rider winning the last two in a row. The Broncs defeated Siena 55-52 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey on February 17, 2007.
This was Rider's first road win of the season, snapping a 17-game road losing streak and the Broncs snapped an 11-game conference losing streak and broke a 13-game MAAC losing streak on the road.
Meyer's 27 points is the most for Rider since Leanne Moore scored 28 points at Niagara on December 3, 2004.
The last time Rider has two scorers with 20 or more points was against Dartmouth on November 22, 2003 when Becky Hower scored 25 and Leanne Moore scored 22.
The six wins by the Broncs surpasses the victory total from the last two seasons and this was Rider's second overtime win of the season. The Broncs defeated Army in OT by five 66-61 on December 12.
Rider last scored 77 points against Monmoth to open the 2002-03 season.
The Broncs travel to Poughkeepsie, New York on Friday night to face pre-season favorite and defending conference champion Marist at 7:00pm.
“Our reward for this is to go to Marist (19-2, 9-0 MAAC),” Milligan said. “They [Marist] are an extremely talented team. They have raised the level of play in the conference. It is going to be a challenge for us but we are going in with no pressure on us. We are going to come up with a game plan and the players will execute it and we'll see what happens from there.” The Red Foxes are perfect in conference play and have won 12 in a row in the MAAC dating back to last season.
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