Women's College Basketball
Rider University 61, Lehigh University 60 (o.t.)

LAWRENCEVILLE—The Rider University women's basketball team held Lehigh University to only one point in the overtime period as the Broncs defeated the Mountain Hawks 61-60 on Thursday evening in Alumni Gymnasium.

“This was a gut check game,” said head coach Lynn Milligan.  “We had lost a couple of games that we wanted to get back and we needed this game tonight.  Lehigh is an outstanding team.”

Junior Julia Duggan (Marmora/Ocean City) hit a layup with 1:57 left in the extra session to give Rider a 61-60 lead, the fourth and final lead change of the game.

The Bronc defense held Lehigh scorless in its final four possessions, causing two missed shots and two turnovers.  The Mountain Hawks went 0-4 from the field during the extra frame.

Rider was 1-8 from the field in overtime but out-rebounded the Mountain Hawks 8-3, including 4-0 on the offensive glass.

Duggan finished with her sixth career 'double-double' and second of the season, with 12 points and 11 rebounds, logging a career-high 43 minutes.

“We harped on getting rebounds and boxing out,” Duggan said.  “Getting on the boards helped us get the ball out on transition.”

Rider out-scored Lehigh 8-0 in fast break points.

Rider (3-5), which snapped a five-game losing streak, was led by junior Robin Perkins (Willingboro/Trenton Catholic) who had 24 points, playing 40 (career-high) of the 45 minutes.  Perkins shot seven for 16 from the field, including three from three-point range.

“Robin kind of had a quiet 24 points but when she got them, they were important, explosive plays,” Milligan said.  “She made plays at the basket and was confident in her shots.”

“We had a good mind set going into the game,” Perkins said.

The leading scorer in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference entering play, tonight was the fourth game of 20 or more points in Perkins career.

Lehigh, which has lost four in a row after opening the season with six straight victories, snapped a 59-59 tie with a free throw 52 seconds into the overtime period.

Trailing 57-55, Rider tied the score on two Perkins free throws with 1:27 left in regulation.

After the Mountain Hawks took a 59-57 lead, Duggan made two free throws with 10.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter.  Lehigh had a chance to win the game with four seconds left in regulation and after the Mountain Hawk miss, Rider's shot at the fourth quarter buzzer fell short.

Trailing 55-49, Rider used a 5-0 run, three points by Perkins to get within one with 3:47 left in the fourth quarter.

With Rider leading 25-22 at the start of the third quarter, Lehigh out-scored the Broncs 17-9 as the Mountain Hawks went into the lead 39-34 with 4:16 left in period three.

Rider used a 5-0 run, three points by Perkins and two points from senior Manon Pellet (Marseille, France) to tie the score at 39-39 with 2:37 left in quarter three.

Pellet finished with seven points and added four of Rider's 11 assists in the game.

Lehigh led 42-41 at the end of three periods.

Rider opened the game on an 8-0 run, five points by Perkins and three points from Pellet as the Bronc defense held Lehigh to 0-11 from the field in the opening 5:52.

“Defensively, that opening six minutes set the tone for the game,” Milligan said.

The Mountain Hawks finished the opening quarter on a 9-2 run, getting to within 10-9 at the end of the opening 10 minutes.

Two free throws by Pellet and a layup from Perkins pushed the Bronc lead to 14-9 two minutes into the second quarter.  

After the Mountain Hawks cut the Bronc lead to one, Rider finished the opening 20 minutes, scoring nine of the last 13 points and the Broncs went into intermission leading 25-19.

Rider was out-shot 37 percent (26-71) to 35 percent (21-60).  

The Broncs held a 47-42 advantage on the glass, despite being out-rebounded on the offensive boards 14-13.

Also for Rider, sophomore Kamila Hoskova (Czech Republic) had nine points and five rebounds in only 16 minutes off the bench and sophomore C'quoya Haughton (Albany, N.Y./Stoneleigh Burnham Prep) added 11 rebounds.

Haughton is averaging 14 rebounds per contest in her last two games.

Lehigh was led by 18 points from Kerry Kinek and 17 points (15 in the second half) from Quinci Mann.  Mountain Hawk leading scorer Lexi Martins was held to two points while pulling down 14 rebounds.

Rider has won six straight overtime games and the Broncs improved to 12-5 under Milligan in overtime.  Milligan has won seven of 15 games decided by one point and the Broncs have won three of the last four games decided by the slimmest of margins.

Since 1977-78, Rider has played 49 games decided by one point and this is only the sixth time that a one-point decision has been decided in overtime.

Former East Coast Conference rivals, this was Lehigh's first visit to Alumni Gym since February 25, 1997 when current Associate Head Coach Pam Durkin led Rider to a 60-53 win with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Tonight was the 28th meeting all-time in the series with Rider winning for the ninth time.

Rider travels to Pittsburgh for a non-conference game on Sunday.

-RU-