Women's College Basketball
Rider University 66, University of Pennsylvania 53
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--On the strength of 17 points and nine rebounds from junior Cintella Spotwood (Trenton/Trenton Central), the Rider University women's basketball team broke a five-game losing streak with a non-conference win against Penn at the Palestra Saturday afternoon.
"Cintella had a very good week of practice and seemed to have some giddy-up in her step," said head coach Lynn Milligan. "She carried that energy over into the game today. That is what 'X' factors do. You don't realize what they have done until you look at the stat sheet at the end of the game. When things aren't going as smooth as they should, you need your 'X' factor to step up and 'C' did that today."
"We were very well prepared by the coaches for the game," said Spotwood who played all 40 minutes and added two assists and a steal. "I tried to bring energy to my play and pump the team up as best as I could. I wanted in their minds that we weren't going to lose this game."
Leading 12-11, Rider went on an 8-0 run, three points each from Spotwood and freshman Dior Brown (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) taking a nine point lead with 5:41 left in the first half. Brown finished with three points and three rebounds.
After Penn got to within two, Spotwood scored five of the final eight Rider points in the half, including a three-pointer at the buzzer from just inside half court and the Broncs led 31-21 at intermission.
Seven of Rider's 11 field goals in the first half were from three-point range.
"Cintella has the ability for her teammates to feed off her," Milligan added. "It is a new role for her but she wants that. Being a junior and a second-year starter, this is a natural progression for her. She was determined today and that is something we need to see from 'C' every day."
Rider started the second half scoring seven of the first nine points, four points by senior Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun) as the Broncs opened up their biggest lead of the game 39-23 with 16:40 left. Sepulveda finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 37 minutes.
A 13-4 run brought Penn (0-8) to within seven with 9:41 left (43-36) but that was as close as the Quakers would get as Rider (2-7) scored 11 of the next 14 points to put the game out of reach. Penn held the Broncs without a field goal and only three free throws for almost seven minutes.
For Penn, junior Kim Adams had 19 points, 17 in the second half.
Also for Rider, freshman Caitlin Bopp (Baltimore, Md./Institute of Notre Dame), making her first collegiate start, finished with five points, five rebounds and three blocks before fouling out with senior Stephanie Wisniewski (Levittown, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) adding nine points and five rebounds (four offensive) off the bench in 15 minutes of play.
Rider out-rebounded the Quakers 43-28.
"If we are going to reach the goals that we have set for ourselves this year, we are going to have to have everyone contribute and you saw that today," Milligan added. "We are not built around any one person. We have a lot of players on the team that are capable of different roles and they are starting to embrace and understand them better. Steph coming in, as a senior captain and getting nine points and five boards in 15 minutes is huge for us. The positives that Steph brings to the floor; that effort trickles down to the younger players."
Penn leads the all-time series 6-3 but Rider has won the last two over the Quakers. The Broncs defeated Penn last season in Lawrenceville, also by 13 points, 76-63.
Dating back to last season, Penn has lost nine straight.
"I'm not sure it was a must win," Milligan said. "I think it was a win that we needed. There was a sense of urgency to go into the eight day break feeling good and coming off a positive heading into finals."
After a break for exams, Rider hosts La Salle on December 20 at 2:00pm in Alumni Gym.
"I think we've gotten a lot of things straight now with the team," Spotwood added. "I think we are going to be strong competition for La Salle next week. We are on the right track and we still have a chance to be a very good team."
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