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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y.--Senior Ali Heller (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews) came off the bench and scored a career-high 26 points as the Rider University women's basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a 68-48 non-conference win at St. Francis (NY) Wednesday evening.

"I'm very happy with the effort," said head coach Lynn Milligan.  "It is nice to get a win on the road."

Heller, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 6th Player of the Year as a junior, played 23 minutes in the contest and made a career-best six three-pointers.  Heller was 10th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage last season and is shooting .571 (16-28) through five games in 2011-12 from beyond the arc.

"I have confidence in my shot and more importantly, my teammates have confidence to get me the ball," said Heller.  "They did a great job putting me in a successful position.  They looked for me after I hit my first couple shots."

"When Ali is open, the ball is going down," Milligan said.  "She has the green light to shoot and she certainly did that tonight."

The Broncs opened the game on a 4-0 run, all four points by junior Sironda Chambers (Newark, Del./Harcum College).  Chambers finished with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal in 29 minutes.

Leading 19-13, Rider (3-2) went on an 8-2 run, three points each by Heller and senior Alyssa Parsons (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) as the Broncs opened up a 27-15 lead with 6:10 left in the opening half.  Parsons finished with six points and three assists.

After the Terriers got to within eight, Rider scored the next six, taking a 14-point lead with 2:15 left in the opening period and the Broncs led 35-22 at the half, led by 16 from Heller.

Leading by 11 early in the second half, Heller scored all eight is an 8-1 run to put the game away for Rider as the Broncs led 50-32 with 12:27 left.

"We never let up the entire game," Milligan said.  "It was a 40-minute effort.  Tonight was a big step for us."

Also for the Broncs, junior Carleigh Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth) tied a career-high with 10 points and added five rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes.

"Role players are huge for us," Milligan added about her bench.  "We have players that accept their roles and that allows the team to develop and take the next step."

Rider's bench out-scored the Terriers 33-19 and the Broncs held a 37-31 rebounding advantage, 14-7 on the offensive glass.

Senior Sarah Homan (Upper Darby, Pa./Delco Christian) had a game-high seven rebounds, four on the offensive end of the floor.  Her 483 career rebounds are 15th best all-time at Rider.

Rider shot 41 percent from the field and the Broncs made a season-high eight three-pointers while only committing 14 turnovers.  St. Francis (NY) committed 22 turnovers leading to 21 Bronc points.

This is the second time this season that Rider has held a team below 50 points.

The last time Rider has a 26-point scoring effort was at Niagara by Amanda Sepulveda on February 6, 2010.

This is the third time this season that Rider has had a player score more than 20 with Homan scoring 20 in a win against Bucknell and sophomore MyNeshia McKenzie (Springfield, Pa./Springfield (Delco)) accomplishing the feat with a 23-point effort at Penn.

This was Rider's first road win of the season.

"Getting a road win is exciting," Heller added.  "It was even better that we got everyone in the game, including the freshmen.  The deeper we are, the more successful we will be.  It was an exciting night all around.  As a senior, it feels really good that our season has started off on a positive note."

Former Northeast Conference rivals, Rider has won 21 of the 24 meetings all-time against St. Francis (NY).

Rider travels to 20th ranked Georgetown on Sunday afternoon.

"We gave Georgetown a solid game for 30 minutes before losing last season," Milligan said.  "They are a tough, tough team but we are going down there to give it our best effort and hopefully come home with a win."

"We gave Georgetown a good 25-30 minute effort last season," Heller said about the game against the Hoyas.  "We are a much better team this year so it should be an interesting game."

-RU-