Women's College Basketball
Rider University 56, Saint Peter's University 55
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game
JERSEY CITY—The Rider University women's basketball team let almost all of a 17-point lead evaporate in the second half but the Broncs held on for a 56-55 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win at Saint Peter's on Saturday afternoon at Yanitelli Center.
“I didn't expect Saint Peter's to not mount a comeback,” said head coach Lynn Milligan. “You are on the road and it is always a tough place to play. We are not the type of team that wins by 20 every night and we knew it would be a battle until the end. Bottom line, we held on to win.”
Rider (8-9, 4-4 MAAC) was led by senior MyNeshia McKenzie (Springfield, Pa./Springfield (Delco)) who had her fourth 'double-double' in a row with 23 points and 10 rebounds, playing 36 minutes.
“Road wins are always good,” said McKenzie who is the second leading scorer and rebounder in the MAAC. “We know we didn't play our best today. We need to come into practice on Sunday with a get better mentality.”
Trailing 46-32 with 9:35 left in the game, Saint Peter's (3-14, 2-6 MAAC) went on a 10-0 run, six points by Kaydine Bent, cutting the Bronc lead to four with 6:24 left.
Bent finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
“Bent did a fantastic job,” said Milligan. “But we held strong defensively and our goal is to hold teams in the 50s.”
Trailing 53-45 with 3:44 left, the Peacocks finished the game on a 10-3 run, four points by Bent and three by Aziza May for the final score.
May finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Saint Peter's opened the game on a 6-0 run, holding Rider scoreless until two free throws by McKenzie at the 14:33 mark of the opening half.
Rider took a 11-8 lead at the 10:59 mark with an 11-2 run, four points by McKenzie and three from freshman Stephanie Mason (Jackson/Jackson Memorial).
Mason finished with eight points in 15 minutes off the bench.
“Steph went to the basket hard and took advantage of her time that she had in the game,” Milligan said.
Leading 14-11, Rider finished the opening half on a 15-5 run, six points by sophomore Mikal Johnson (Manassas, Va./Osbourn) as the Broncs took a 29-16 lead into intermission.
Johnson finished with eight points, two assists and two steals in 36 minutes.
“I thought Mikal took some good shots today,” Milligan added.
Rider scored the first four points of the second half as the Broncs opened up their largest lead (33-16) with 18:16 left.
Saint Peter's held a 40-29 rebounding advantage, 14-5 on the offensive glass.
“We executed fairly well,” Milligan said. “We just didn't have some shots fall.”
Rider shot 40.8 percent (20-49) with Saint Peter's going 23-55 from the field (41.8 percent).
“We are struggling a little bit,” said McKenzie, who recorded her 36th career 'double-double' and 10th of the season. “It is a tough part of the season and I keep telling my teammates that we can't worry about who we are playing and the name on the other jersey, we just have to go out and play our game and that means a solid effort on defense which then keys our offense.”
Seven of Rider's 17 games this season have been decided by six points or less, including the last three in a row.
This is Rider's 46th game since the 1977-78 season that has been decided by one point with the Broncs winning 23. Rider is 5-7 under Milligan in one point games.
Rider and Saint Peter's met just nine days ago with the Broncs winning 68-40 in Alumni Gymnasium.
Today was the 55th meeting all-time between the teams with the Peacocks holding a 42-13 series lead. The Broncs have won four in a row over Saint Peter's and Rider is 3-2 all-time against the Peacocks in games decided by one point.
Rider hosts Quinnipiac on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
-RU-
