Women's College Basketball
Rider University 53, Stony Brook University 41
LAWRENCEVILLE--Sophomore MyNeshia McKenzie (Springfield, Pa./Springfield (Delco)) compiled 11 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds to lead Rider to victory over Stony Brook Tuesday night.
"It was one of those games that we had to grind it out," said head coach Lynn Milligan. "We never really got into a good flow due to Stony Brook's defense but a win is a win. Our defense followed the game plan very well."
For McKenzie, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Rookie team last season, it was her fourth 'double-double' of the season and ninth of her career.
"I am coming into every game just trying to make something happen for my team," McKenzie said. "Whether it is getting rebounds or scoring, I'm just doing what I can."
Of McKenzie's 15 rebounds, five were on the offensive glass and she leads the team with 25 offensive rebounds this season.
"You have to want the ball," McKenzie said. "I like rebounding the ball and playing with tenacity. I'll do anything to get the ball into my hands."
The victory was the fourth of the season for Rider. The last two seasons the Broncs picked up their fourth win in mid-February. December of 2007 was the last time Rider had four wins before Christmas.
Junior Carleigh Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) led the Broncs with a career-high 13 points, making six of seven field goal attempts, while grabbing six rebounds.
"My teammates showed a lot of confidence in me tonight," Brown said. "They tried to put me in good positions to score. After I made my first basket, I was feeling good. I felt that I needed to step up and make some plays."
"Carleigh does what Carleigh does every day in practice," Milligan said. "We were struggling a bit and I put her in and she gave us a spark. She has confidence in her shot, she is in the gym all the time working and you are seeing the results of that."
Holding a 34-28 lead, Rider (4-3) out-scored Stony Brook 9-6, seven points by McKenzie, to take a 43-34 lead with 5:03 left to play.
Rider out-scored Stony Brook (1-6) 9-2 to start the second half, four points by junior Sironda Chambers (Newark, Del.), to take a 31-23 lead with 15:19 left to play. Chambers finished with eight points and three assists.
The Broncs out-scored Stony Brook 11-4 over the final 6:35 of the first half, five points by senior Ali Heller (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews), to take a 22-21 lead at the half. Heller finished with five points.
Rider senior Alyssa Parsons (Ivyland, Pa./Archbishop Wood) made three of four foul shots in the final 1:35 to help preserve the win. Parsons finished with 11 points, three steals and an assist in 34 minutes.
Senior Sarah Homan (Upper Darby, Pa./Delco Christian) grabbed six rebounds, as the Broncs out-rebounded Stony Brook 41-33. Rider held a 12-6 advantage on the offensive glass, leading to a 13-2 advantage in second chance points. Homan is one rebound behind Tanya Cross for 14th on Rider's all-time rebounding list. Cross had 492 boards for the Broncs from 1999-2002.
Rider led at the half, despite shooting just 29 percent from the field and committing eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes, by dominating the glass. Rider out-rebounded the Seawolves 24-15 in the first half.
Rider shot 41 percent in the second half and only committed three turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
"Our offense is a process," Milligan said. "The ball isn't going to fall in the basket every night but you do want to take steps in the right direction each game and I think we did that."
Trailing 9-6, Stony Brook went on an 11-2 run, five points by Misha Horsey, to take a 17-11 lead with 7:11 left in the first half. Horsey finished with six points.
Whitney Davis led Stony Brook with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Both teams shot 35 percent (19-54) from the floor. Rider dominated at the charity stripe, making 11 (of 18) with Stony Brook attempting only two free throws (and making one).
This is the 11th time under Milligan and third time this season that Rider has held an opponent to under 50 points and the 41 points are a season-best effort by the defense.
"I thought we made some good defensive adjustments, especially in the second half," Milligan said. "The players gave each other some help and did a good job communicating. It didn't necessary spark our offense like it should have but it did lead to our flow in transition."
With the win, Rider now leads the all-time series two games to one. The last time these two teams met was during the 2001-02 season, a Stony Brook victory.
Rider improved to 3-1 in Alumni Gymnasium for the season. "Winning at home is important," Milligan said about her squad that played two in a row on the road prior to tonight and returns to the road for two straight starting Sunday. "We want to make this gym a hard place to play for our opponents and protect our home court."
Rider travels up the New Jersey Turnpike to Newark to take on NJIT Sunday at 2pm.
"We have a couple days to get some rest and then get three solid days of practice heading into Sunday," Milligan added. "NJIT is going to play a similar type of game that we saw tonight and we need to be ready, especially with it being on the road."
-RU-
