Women's College Basketball
Rider University 64, Lafayette College 56
LAWRENCEVILLE--Led by a career-high 20 points from senior Sarah Homan (Upper Darby, Pa./Delco Christian), the Rider University women's basketball team opened the 2011-12 campaign with a 64-56 non-conference win over Lafayette College Friday night.
Rider trailed 33-31 with 15 minutes left before going on a 17-0 run, seven points by senior Ali Heller (Boca Raton, Fla/St. Andrews) and five points by Homan to put the Broncs ahead 51-36, the fourth and final lead change of the game. Heller finished with nine points, going four for eight from the field.
"I wanted to start off the season right," said Homan. "I'm a senior and I was pumped up and ready to go. We worked to attack their defense and on the other end of the court, worked hard to get stops."
"Sarah is a senior captain and knows what this season is all about," said head coach Lynn Milligan, in her fifth season at Rider. "She and the rest of the team feel a sense of urgency and you saw that tonight. When Sarah is focused and playing well, this kind of performance is not a surprise. This is a sign of good things to come."
Heller, who was the MAAC 6th Player of the Year after finishing 10th in the nation in three-point percentage, was one for two from long range in the game.
Trailing 51-36 with eight minutes left, Lafayette (0-1) cut the Bronc lead to two (58-56) at the 34 second mark but could get no closer as Rider went six for six at the free throw line down the stretch, four free throws by junior Carleigh Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy). C. Brown finished with four points.
"Playing with a lead is not something we are accustomed to," Milligan said. "We would like to get accustomed to that real quick and in order to be successful, we have to have a better understanding of time and score and the things we are trying to accomplish. Lafayette was able to get a lot of the points during their run from the free throw line and more importantly for them, with the clock stopped."
The teams battled through four ties in the first 24 points of the game before the Leopards broke a 12-12 deadlock with a 7-2 run to lead 19-14 with 9:27 left in the opening half.
A three-point play by junior Caitlin Bopp (Baltimore, Md./Inst. of Notre Dame) tied the game at 23 with 4:13 left before intermission. Bopp finished with seven points, going five for five from the free throw line.
As a team, Rider went 26-34 (77 percent) from the charity stripe.
Trailing 26-23, Rider went on a 7-0 run, four points by Homan and three points from freshman Emily Fazzini (Wayne, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) as the Broncs went ahead 30-26 and Rider led 30-28 at the half. Making her collegiate debut (and first start), Fazzini finished with five points, two rebounds, two steals and a block in 27 minutes.
Also for the Broncs, sophomore MyNeshia McKenzie (Springfield, Pa./Springfield (Delco)) had 11 rebounds to go along with six points.
Nine players hit the scoring column for Rider.
"Having different options is critical," Milligan said. "We aren't built around a 'super star'. We are built to be balanced and have versatility. Any other player can just as easily have 20 points in a game. We have multiple threats and we don't need one person to carry the load for us. As long as we have the players with 12, nine and eight, we should be in good shape."
Lafayette out-rebounded Rider 49-38, 17-12 on the offensive glass.
The Leopards were led by Ashley Springer with 10 points and Sarah McGorry who pulled down 14 rebounds.
This was the 29th meeting between the former East Coast Conference rivals with Rider winning for the ninth time. The teams last met on November 29, 2001.
Rider hosts Bucknell on Sunday at 4pm.
The Bison defeated Saint Peter's 46-35 in their opener Friday night.
"Bucknell is a very, very talented team," said Milligan. "This is going to be another tough opponent like tonight was. The Bison are aggressive on the defensive end and are also a very good rebounding team. It is also a revenge game for us as we lost a close battle with them at their place last year."
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