Women's College Basketball
Rider University 59, Old Dominion University 56 (o.t.)

NORFOLK, Va.—When you are looking to snap a four-game losing streak and are facing a schedule that has 11 of the first 14 games of the season away from home, you are willing to work a little extra to get that first win of the season.  Specifically five minutes extra.

The Rider University women's basketball team used a 6-0 run to start overtime and held on to upset Old Dominion University in Virginia on Sunday afternoon.

“This is what this team is about.” said head coach Lynn Milligan.  “It's a small step at where we think we can be. To come down here on the road, after the way we started the season and beat an unbelievably good Old Dominion team, it took everybody. I thought our defensive effort today was absolutely outstanding, just a fantastic team effort.  I'm really proud the way we played together today.”

For Rider (1-4), sophomore Robin Perkins (Willingboro/Trenton Catholic) had 18 points, six rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes of play.

Junior Emily Fazzini (Wayne, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) had 13 points, five in the overtime, including a clutch three-pointer that gave the Broncs a 53-49 lead with 3:32 left in the game.  Fazzini added five rebounds and two assists, playing 34 minutes.

Old Dominion held a 54-53 advantage on the boards.

Trailing 28-16 with 19 minutes left in the second half, Old Dominion (3-2) used a 7-0 run to get to within five points with the Lady Monarchs eventually cutting the Broncs lead to 36-35 with 12:10 left in regulation.

Rider pushed the lead back to 40-35 on layups by freshman Jessie Wallace (Reading, Pa./Wilson) and fifth-year senior Lashay Banks (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) with 10:10 left in the second half before ODU responded to tie the game 40-40 with 9:01 left in period two.  Banks finished with five points in 15 minutes of play with Wallace adding nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds in 22 minutes of action.

“Lashay is our senior and we need to get her on track,” said Milligan.  “Lashay is a big part of anything we would hope to accomplish and I need to get her some confidence back, but we trust her.  I thought she did great in the second half and in the overtime, especially on defense.”

ODU tied Rider three times in the second half with Rider never surrendering the lead.  The Broncs led for 28:54 of the 45 minutes.

A Fazzini three-pointer gave Rider a 45-42 lead with 7:24 left and two free throws by junior Manon Pellet (Marseille, France) put the Broncs ahead 47-44 with 6:19 left in the second half.  Pellet had five points, five assists and three steals in 32 minutes.

Trailing 49-47, the Lady Monarchs tied the game with 1:04 left in the second half on a jumper.

Both teams had a chance to win it in regulation with Rider missing a jumper and ODU also missing a shot with Pellet forcing a Lady Monarch turnover after ODU secured the offensive rebound.

Old Dominion began the game with a 6-0 run before Wallace made two free throws to get Rider on the board at the 16:46 mark of the opening half.

Trailing 10-2, Rider took a 12-10 lead with a 10-0 run halfway through the first half, three points each by Fazzini and sophomore Stephanie Mason (Jackson/Jackson Memorial).  Mason finished with those three points in nine minutes of play.

Tied 14-14, Rider used a 9-0 run, eight points by Perkins as the Broncs took a 23-14 lead with 3:35 left in the opening half and Rider led 24-16 at intermission.

“We talked that Robin is obviously talented enough to put threes on the board, but its understanding timing and scoring,” Milligan said.  “She's capable of taking a three and going to the basket, but there's times when certain things make more sense.  When we struggled to score early, Robin did a fantastic job driving hard on the baseline.”

Rider continued its struggles from the line, shooting 14-27 (52 percent) however the Lady Monarchs were even worse from the charity stripe, going 6-18 (33 percent).

ODU out-shot Rider 32 percent (23-71) to 31 percent (20-64).  The Broncs were 5-20 from three-point range.

“Everybody knew what they needed to do,” said Milligan.  “We say it after every game. Our defense has to hold strong until our offense catches up.  Our offense hasn't caught up yet. We made some big shots today, but we didn't shoot free throws and we didn't shoot threes again.  The ones that we made helped build our confidence.  Each shot you make is a big shot.”

This was the first meeting in women's basketball between Rider and Old Dominion and the Broncs improved to 10-5 under Milligan in overtime games with four o.t. wins in a row.

“It's up there,” Milligan said about the win.  “Anytime you win a game on the road against a quality opponent you've got to feel good about that.”

The Broncs opened the season with three straight games on the road after participating in the WNIT and overall 11 of the 14 games this season are away from home.

Rider travels to LIU Brooklyn for a non-conference game Tuesday at 7pm.  The Broncs return home on Friday, December 5 when Iona College comes to Lawrenceville for a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at 7pm.

-RU-