Women's College Basketball
Iona College 85, Rider University 60
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game
Rider's Sepulveda 1,000 career points
LAWRENCEVILLE--On a night that was supposed to be grand, the Iona Gaels had other ideas.
Rider senior Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun) became the 18th Bronc all-time to hit the 1,000 point plateau as the Rider University women's basketball team lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game to Iona Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium.
"Defensively, we were not on our game tonight," said head coach Lynn Milligan. "We challenged the team at halftime to win the second half and we out-scored Iona 37-36, which I'm glad to see. We can't give up 49 points in the first half and 85 points overall and expect to win the game."
Winners of eight in a row, Iona (12-8, 8-1 MAAC) scored the first eight points of the game and led 19-2 before Sepulveda's three-pointer gave her 1,001 points with 12:08 left in the first half.
"Amanda has played about 35 minutes a game for us since mid-way through her sophomore year and has done a terrific job," said Milligan. "She has been a warrior for us and I am very proud of what she has accomplished."
Sepulveda hit her second three-pointer, cutting the Gael lead to 13 (21-8) with 10 minutes left in the half. Sepulveda finished with eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Sepulveda is also 13th on the all-time assist list at Rider with 256.
Leading 29-13, Iona finished the half scoring 20 of the next 30 points and led 49-23 at intermission on the strength of 53 percent shooting. The Gaels finished shooting 44 percent for the game.
"We got beat by a very good basketball team," Milligan said. "They beat us in every facet of the game."
Iona stretched its lead to 39 (80-41) with 6:22 left before Rider (2-18, 0-9 MAAC) made a late charge with a 9-2 run, four points by sophomore Lauren Gregg (Collingswood) to end the game. Gregg finished with six points and three rebounds.
Sophomore Ali Heller (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews) had a career-high 11 points off the bench for Rider with fellow sophomore Sarah Homan (Upper Darby, Pa./Delco Christian) adding 10 points and nine rebounds (five offensive).
"It was good to get some of the younger players some time," Milligan said. "They responded in the second half with a pretty good effort. Overall, the problem is that the first half effort was unacceptable."
Also for the Broncs, freshman Carleigh Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) had nine rebounds (five offensive) with fellow rookie Dior Brown (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) adding eight rebounds.
Rider out-rebounded Iona 53-45, including 22-13 on the offensive glass.
Fourteen Iona players saw time in the game with five reaching double-digits, led by Anna McLean who had 16 points and Catherine Lutz who had 12 points in 12 minutes off the bench.
"They are a very balanced team," Milligan added about the Gaels. "They are 8-1 in the MAAC for a reason."
Iona had 23 assists on 32 made baskets led by eight assists from Marissa Flagg.
This was the 28th meeting all-time between Rider and Iona and the Gaels have won 17. The two teams split the two MAAC games last season with each team winning on the road.
The teams meet again in the last game of the regular season on February 28 in New Rochelle, New York.
Rider has lost 11 straight.
The Broncs host Manhattan in a MAAC game on Sunday at 2:05pm in Alumni Gymnasium on the Lawrenceville campus. The Broncs lost in Riverdale, New York to the Jaspers 56-44 on January 3.
"Manhattan is a different team than they were when we played them four weeks ago," Milligan said. "We need to handle their pressure a little bit better than we did the first time. We are going to have to shoot the ball well because we are going to see a lot of zone."
The Jaspers defeated Saint Peter's at home 66-48 Friday night and are 10-10, 5-4 in the MAAC.
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