Women's College Basketball
Niagara University 68, Rider University 56
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y.--Need to escape a blizzard? Travel to the Buffalo area in Western New York.
With Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey buried under more than two feet of snow, the Rider University women's basketball team is spending the weekend in sunny and snow free Buffalo and playing at Niagara University on Saturday afternoon. Ok, we lied about the sunny part.
Despite a career-high 26 points from senior Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun) the Broncs lost to the Purple Eagles 68-56. "Amanda shot the ball well but we need to get her some help," said head coach Lynn Milligan. "We didn't get as many inside looks as we thought we would get."
Trailing 32-27, Sepulveda hit her fifth three-pointer of the game, sparking Rider on a 4-0 run as the Broncs got to within one with 18:20 left in the contest.
Niagara responded with an 11-0 run, opening up its biggest lead of the game, 43-31 with 14:26 left.
Five points by Sepulveda and two by senior Stephanie Wisniewski (Levittown, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) got Rider within five (43-38) with 12:27 remaining on the 7-0 run. Wisniewski finished with seven points in 15 minutes off the bench.
Niagara scored the next 10 points to pull away, opening up a 15-point lead (53-38) with 9:23 remaining.
"Niagara is playing well and took advantage of our defensive errors in the second half," said Milligan. "The second half today was not one of our better efforts defensively. I felt like our defense let us down in the game."
Trailing 2-0, Rider (3-19, 1-10 MAAC) went on a 5-0 run, three-points by senior Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun), taking a 5-2 lead, three minutes into the game.
Tied at five, Sepulveda hit another three-pointer and two lay ups by Wisniewski gave the Broncs a 7-0 run and Rider led 12-5 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
Sepulveda's third three-pointer of the half gave Rider its biggest lead (eight points) at 20-12, eight minutes before the half. The Broncs opened the game shooting 59 percent from the field (eight for 15), including four for eight from three-point range.
Trailing by seven, Niagara (9-13, 6-5 MAAC) went on a 10-0 run and took a 27-24 lead, three minutes before intermission. "We made some mistakes on defensive assignments late in the first half and didn't do a good job making the adjustment in the second half," Milligan said.
Sepulveda hit her fourth three-pointer to tie the game at 27 at the 2:39 mark, the third tie of the game before the Purple Eagles ended the half on a 5-0 run and led 32-27 at intermission.
Already 13th on the all-time assist list at Rider, Sepulveda moved into 16th place (1,040 points) on the scoring list, passing Jessica Beck who scored 1,015 from 1993-96 and Janele Henderson who had 1,030 points from 2005-08. Sepulveda hit a career-high six three-pointers in the game in 39 minutes and added six rebounds. Sepulveda leads the MAAC and is 61st in the nation, averaging 2.6 three-pointers per game.
Sepulveda's 26 points are the most for a Bronc since then junior Tammy Meyers (Willingboro) dropped 26 on Iona in a 91-82 loss on December 5, 2008.
Freshman Carleigh Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) led the Broncs with seven rebounds.
The Broncs held a 40-31 rebounding advantage. Rider shot 40 percent with the Purple Eagles shooting 43 percent.
Rider dressed only 10 (and played nine) due to injuries and the Broncs were without four-time MAAC Rookie of the Week honoree Caitlin Bopp (Baltimore, Md./Inst. of Notre Dame) due to a continued issue with her back.
This was the 30th meeting between Niagara and Rider with the Purple Eagles winning 18.
Niagara won 63-54 on January 18 in Lawrenceville and the Purple Eagles have defeated the Broncs three straight times.
Niagara has won six of its last seven games.
The Broncs stay in the Buffalo area and face Canisius College Monday night at 7pm. The Golden Griffins (9-13, 4-7 MAAC) lost to Loyola 72-71 in overtime Saturday afternoon. Canisius defeated Rider 78-48 on January 16 in Lawrenceville.
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