Women's College Basketball
Siena College 84, Rider University 81 (ot)
LAWRENCEVILLE?Senior Day. Almost 1,000 fans in Alumni Gym to witness career point number 1,000 for the team's leading scorer. A 25 foot three-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime that was in ESPN's top 10 plays of the day on SportsCenter. Add a win into the mix and you have a script that would be under consideration for the Oscar's ?Best Drama' category. For Bronc senior and Elementary Education major Janele Henderson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) it was almost all of the above as Rider and Siena played in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference overtime thriller on Friday afternoon.
A perfect day and almost perfect ending. Almost. All but the win as the Broncs lost in overtime despite the 22 point effort from Henderson, her second 20 plus point effort in a row.
“It was a terrific game,” said head coach Lynn Milligan. “We had a couple of defensive break downs in the overtime that cost us. But it was a special game and almost a story book ending for Janele.”
“I honestly thought it was going to go in the whole time,” said Henderson with that sly grin on her face as she described the 25 foot bank shot [that may be described as a 40 foot shot by Monday morning] that beat the buzzer. “We only had 2.4 seconds to execute the play and the Siena defender was right on me and I turned and got the best look that I could and took the shot.”
“We have gutsy kids who are not afraid to take the big shot,” said Milligan. “We do those situations every day in practice so we are prepared for games like this.”
The nationally televised game was seen on ESPNU, Rider's only appearance on national television during the regular season.
Henderson hit six three-pointers including one eight minutes into the game to become the 17th women's basketball player at Rider to reach 1,000 points.
“It feels good to reach the 1,000 point milestone and to be only the 17th player to do that at Rider,” said Henderson. “The night was really exciting.”
“It was setup for it to be a storybook day for Janele,” Milligan said. “She had family and a lot of fans here and she'll tell you that she would rather have the win than the 1,000 points and it was a great day for her. It was a great last home game. I am very proud of Janele and the way she has played all season.” Henderson, Rider's lone senior, was honored prior to the game and the players all wore special warm up shirts, printed with her name and number.
“Everything went right today except for the win,” said Henderson. “We played really, really hard and showed the country that we are better than our 8-21 record. We showed that we will compete every play of every game.”
“The 1,000 points by Janele is a great accomplishment for her,” Milligan added. “It's hard to do. She is only the 17th in the almost 70 years of the program to accomplishment that milestone and that is a testament to all of her hard work and dedication to the program.”
Also for the Broncs, sophomore Stephanie Wisniewski (Levittown, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) had her first career ?double-double' with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
“Steph has done a great job battling back from the early season injury,” Milligan said. “Her inside presence allowed Amanda and Janele to get some open looks and that's something that we are going to need for the team to be successful. The more scoring options that are on the floor, the harder we are to defend. Steph is healthy now and it is a sign of bigger and better things to come.”
Siena (11-17, 7-11 MAAC) opened overtime with an 8-2 run and the Saints maintained a seven point lead through out the overtime. Rider hit a three at the buzzer for the final score.
Trailing by seven (64-57) with 3:50 left in regulation, Rider (8-21, 3-15 MAAC) went on a 12-5 run, four points each by Wisniewski and sophomore Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun) and that run combined with Henderson's three forced the overtime period. Sepulveda finished with 12 points and five assists, playing all 45 minutes in the game.
Also for Rider, sophomore Tammy Meyers (Willingboro) had 15 points and six assists with junior Shaunice Parker (Waldorf, Md./West Lake) adding 12 points and six rebounds.
Tied at four in the first half, Rider went on an 11-2 run, six points by Henderson including number 1,000 opening up a nine point lead (15-6) eight minutes into the game.
Trailing by eight, the Saints went on a 16-6 run to take a two point lead 26-24 with four and a half minutes remaining in the opening period and the Broncs took a one-point lead into intermission 35-34.
Siena leads the series 20-4 over Rider and the teams split the two meetings this season with the Broncs winning in overtime in Loudonville on January 27 by a score of 77-73. Rider leads the nation with 13 single-digit losses and are 2-1 in overtime during the 2007-08 season. For the Saints it was their fourth overtime game in the last 10 games and Siena is 2-2 in those games including 1-1 against Rider.
Rider, the number 10 seed in the postseason MAAC tournament, will play at noon on Thursday, March 6 in Albany, New York against Loyola. The seeds for the tournament will be offically announced by the conference office on Monday, March 3.
“We're going to be prepared no matter who we play,” said Milligan. “We are looking to prolong Janele's career and make some things happen in the tournament. If it's Siena again, you can probably count on another overtime game because teams really seem evenly matched and it will be another great game if we play them again. Siena is well coached and they have a solid team."
“We are going to play a team that we just played in the last two weeks no matter what,” said Henderson. “I think that teams are going to have to worry about us and I don't think anyone is really going to want to play us because they know that they will be in for a battle for 40 minutes.”
And if Henderson has her way, maybe more than 40 minutes.
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