Women's College Basketball
#7 Loyola College 57, #10 Rider University 49
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference-Preliminary Round
Costantino MAAC All-Academic Honors
ALBANY, N.Y. ?The 2007-08 Rider University women's basketball season came to an end Thursday in first round of the Citizen's Bank Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, losing to Loyola for the third time this year. “We got a good effort but unfortunately it wasn't enough,” said head coach Lynn Milligan who completed her first season at Rider. “We got out hustled and out toughed and that was a little bit disappointing. It was a tail of two halves.”
The Broncs out-scored Loyola (13-16, 7-11) 10-2 to start the second half, six points by junior Shaunice Parker (Waldorf, Md./West Lake), to cut the lead to 37-32 with 16:43 left to play, and a lay up by sophomore Stephanie Wisniewski (Levittown, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) cut the lead to 40-37 with 13:20 remaining.
Parker finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, her fourth ?double-double' of the season.
“We were more focused in the second half,” said Parker “We had our eyes on the prize but Loyola answered back with some clutch shots.”
“I thought we competed a lot better in the second half,” said Milligan who led the Broncs to a six win improvement over last season. “We got after some things but got beat to a lot of loose balls and offensive rebounds.”
Rider cut the lead to four points, 50-46 with 3:50 left on a basket by sophomore Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun), but that was as close as the Broncs could get. Sepulveda played all 40 minutes and added seven points, eight rebounds and three assists.
“Loyola had just enough answers every time we got close,” said Milligan. “Meredith Tolley hit a three for Loyola with two and a half minutes left that was kind of the dagger for us.”
“Lynn has done a great job at Rider,” said Loyola head coach Joe Logan, in his third year at the helm of the Greyhounds. “We knew Rider would make a run and I was happy with the way our team stayed together. I was also happy with how we defended and rebounded down the stretch.”
“We got some good looks inside but didn't capitalize on them,” Milligan said. “We came up short a little bit.”
“Rider is talented and they don't go away,” Logan added. “Their guards, Sepulveda can go off at any time and Henderson being a senior isn't going to go away and Meyers is tough. They ran Meyers off a lot of screens and we guarded her with four different players and she still went off on us a bit.” Tammy Meyers, a sophomore from Willingboro, scored nine points and added six rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes of play.
Rider (8-22, 3-15 MAAC) trailed 14-13 mid-way through the first half before Loyola went on a 17-5 run, seven points by Meghan Wood, to take a 31-18 lead, and the Greyhounds led 35-22 at the half.
“Loyola challenged us on defense and we didn't respond,” Milligan added. “We didn't attack the basket the way we are capable of and we settled for some three-pointer attempts and some off balance shots. You have to give Loyola credit for their defensive effort.”
Rider jumped out to a 6-2 lead, four points by Meyers, and the Broncs tied the score at 9-9 on a three-point field goal by senior Janele Henderson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin). Henderson finished with 14 points,
Henderson graduates with 1,030 career points, 16th highest ever at Rider. “You can't say enough about what Janele has done for us,” Milligan said. “She is a great competitor and wants to win and she gave her heart and soul to the program this year.”
“The second half effort is what Rider basketball is all about,” said Henderson. “I think we competed and made a run but the three from Tolley was the game. We wanted to go out having no regrets and after the first half effort, we were determined to give that effort and leave everything on the floor.”
For Loyola, junior Siobhan Prior scored a game-high 18 points with sophomore Kaitlin Grant adding 11 points off the bench. Freshman Meredith Tolley added five points and six rebounds.
Rider out-rebounded Loyola 44-39. “I give Rider a lot of credit and Lynn a lot of credit,” Logan added. “I know Lynn has heard it all year that they are doing a better job but really they are. They play hard and that is a testament to Lynn and her staff and the work that they do.”
This was Rider's 14th single digit loss of the season, tops in the nation. “We've been in enough situations where we know how to come back,” said Milligan. “Today we just came up a little bit short. We competed until the end and these young ladies gave it everything they had.”
Milligan completes her first season at Rider with eight wins, the most for the program since the 2004-05 season when the Broncs won nine.
“We got great support this season from our fans and the Rider community and we are looking to continue to improve the program next season,” Milligan added. “The alumni, fans, everyone associated with the program have been great and we are going to get back to work and make everyone proud.”
“I think the team will be really tough next season,” said Henderson. “The players we have coming back know what to expect and only losing one senior, it's going to be a tougher team to beat.”
Loyola leads the all-time series 23-6 and the 'Hounds have defeated Rider seven straight times and 11 of 12. The Greyhounds and Broncs have now met three times in the last five seasons in the first round of the conference tournament with Loyola winning twice. The last Rider win over Loyola was March 3, 2005, by a score of 60-58 when Becky Hower made a 26 foot three-pointer at the buzzer.
Bronc junior Danielle Costantino (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) was named to the MAAC All-Academic team for the second season in a row. A Business Administration/Communication major, Costantino compiled a 3.54 g.p.a.
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