Women's College Basketball

Rider University 67, Maryland Baltimore County 55

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—Junior Emily Fazzini (Wayne, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) scored 19 points and senior Marritta Gillcrease (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy) added eight points, a career-high 20 rebounds and a career-high five blocks to lead Rider to victory over UMBC (4-5) Thursday night.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak.

“I'm really happy with the effort tonight,” said head coach Lynn Milligan.  “There is no such thing as a must-win but we were really close to that.”

“Seeing the ball go through the net gives us confidence going forward,” said Fazzini who came in averaging just over seven points a game.  “I'm just trying to get back into a shooting grove.”  Fazzini is a 69-game veteran but has only played 13 games over the last two seasons due to injury.  I'm slowly adjusting to more of a scoring role.”

Holding a 28-27 lead, Rider (3-7) out-scored UMBC 20-5, six points by Gillcrease, to take a 48-32 lead with 9:17 remaining.

The 6'3” Gillcrease is just the third Bronc to ever compiled 20 or more rebounds in a game.

“From a rebounding perspective, this is probably my best game at Rider,” said Gillcrease who is a veteran of 76 games.  “I try to go out there and do whatever needs to get done.”

Rider scored the final five points of the first half, three by senior Kornelija Valiuskyte (Siauliai, Lithuania), to take a 26-25 lead at intermission.

Trailing 13-8, Rider went on a 9-3 run, four points each by Fazzini and freshman Kamila Hoskova (Czech Republic), to take a 17-16 lead with 8:12 left in the first half. Hoskova compiled six points in 13 minutes off the bench.

Also for Rider, sophomore Robin Perkins (Willingboro/Trenton Catholic) added 10 points, making six of eight foul shots.

Rider defeated UMBC 60-48 last season and has now won four times in 10 games over their formal rivals from the old East Coast Conference.

Despite playing without their leading rebounder (8.4) and second leading scorer (8.9), sophomore Julia Duggan (Marmora/Ocean City), who suffered a concussion in the Penn State game December 14, the Broncs out-rebounded UMBC 51-38.

“Marritta's performance was excellent,” Milligan said.  “Without Jules in the lineup, she pretty much rebounded the ball for two players and we needed that.  She anchored our defense.”

“We generated some easy buckets,” Milligan said.  “That's something we've been working on the last few days in practice.”

Rider held a 16-2 advantage in fast break points and scored 10 points off 10 Terrier turnovers.

“Transition points make things so much easier,” Fazzini added.

For UMBC, Capree Garner compiled 19 points and eight rebounds.  Garner averages 19.2 points per game.

The Broncs travel to Binghamton Sunday, the first of four straight road games.

“With 11 of the first 14 games this season on the road, it was important to win at home,” Milligan said.  “We didn't feel we played our best in the first two games at home so it was important for our fans to see what we can do and have them not forget about the effort and how hard these young ladies play.”

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