Women's College Basketball
Manhattan College 59, Rider University 45
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game
RIVERDALE, N.Y.--The Rider University women's basketball team saw its five-game winning streak snapped at Manhattan College in the 2011-12 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener for both teams Monday afternoon.
"You have to give Manhattan credit," said head coach Lynn Milligan. "They defended us very well. It seems that every shot that we took was a little rushed."
For Rider (8-4, 0-1 MAAC), junior Caitlin Bopp (Baltimore, Md./Inst. of Notre Dame) had 11 points and seven rebounds with freshman Emily Fazzini (Wayne, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) adding 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Trailing 34-23, the Broncs went on a 9-2 run to open the second half, three points by Fazzini cutting the Jasper lead to 36-32 with 14:00 left in the game but that was as close as Rider would get.
"We responded the way I thought we would at the start of the second half," Milligan said. "There is no quit in the team. We had a couple of lulls in each half that really cost us."
Leading 38-34, Manhattan used a 14-1 run to open up a 17-point lead (52-35) with 6:48 remaining.
Trailing 14-13, Manhattan (7-6, 1-0 MAAC) went on a 10-3 run, as the Jaspers took a 24-16 lead with 5:38 left in the opening half, the fifth lead change of the opening 20 minutes.
The Broncs cut the Jasper lead to 26-20 on a layup by senior Sarah Homan (Upper Darby, Pa./Delco Christian) before Manhattan finished the half on 6-0 run, holding the Broncs scoreless for the final 4:25. Homan finished with two points and a rebound in seven minutes.
The Jaspers led 32-20 at intermission.
Manhattan was led by Monica Roeder who had 19 points with Nadia Peters adding 11 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
Also for Rider, sophomore MyNeshia McKenzie (Springfield, Pa./Springfield (Delco)) had nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with three steals in 37 minutes. McKenzie entered play 22nd in the nation averaging 10.1 rebounds per game, tops in the MAAC.
The Broncs out-rebounded Manhattan 39-27 but committed 25 turnovers and Rider was held to 32 percent shooting (17-54) with the Jaspers shooting 43 percent (22-51).
"We were a little tentative on the offensive end and didn't make some good decisions," Milligan said. "The turnovers limited the opportunities that we were able to get."
Rider came into the game tied for the 22nd longest current winning streak in the nation.
Manhattan has now won five straight.
This was the 33rd meeting between the teams with Manhattan winning for the 25th time. The Jaspers swept the season series in 2010-11 and have won three straight over Rider. The teams meet again on February 12 at 1pm in Lawrenceville.
This is Rider's 15th season in the MAAC and the Broncs are now 4-11 all-time in MAAC openers.
Rider hosts Niagara in a MAAC game at 7pm on Wednesday in Alumni Gymnasium.
"We'll regroup and get ready for Wednesday night," Milligan said. "The conference schedule is an 18-game grind. You have to win your home games and steal a couple on the road so we are going to focus on the Niagara game and build on having the next three games in Alumni Gym."
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