Women's College Basketball
University of Pittsburgh 75, Rider University 44

PITTSBURGH, Pa.—The Rider University women's basketball team lost a non-conference game at ACC opponent Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center.

“This was disappointing,” said head coach Lynn Milligan.  “Credit Pitt, they had a good game plan.”

For Rider (3-6), senior Manon Pellet (Marseille, France) had a career-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes of play.

Playing in front of family and friends, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, freshman Lexi Posset (Beaver Area HS) finished with a career-high eight points in 16 minutes of action.

Pellet had a steal and layup to give the Broncs an early 4-3 lead, 4:09 into the game and she scored six of the first eight Bronc points in the contest.

Rider led 12-7 at the end of the opening 10 minutes.

“The opening quarter was a solid 10 minutes,” Milligan said.

Pitt (7-4) opened the second quarter on a 14-2 run, taking a 21-14 lead, halfway into the period and the Panthers held a 31-19 advantage at the half.

Rider was beset by early foul trouble with juniors Julia Duggan (Marmora/Ocean City), Robin Perkins (Willingboro/Trenton Catholic) and Yeliz Dogan (Izmir, Turkey) all picking up three fouls in the opening 20 minutes.

“We got into foul trouble and never got into any type of flow on either end of the floor,” Milligan said.  “With players in and out, that really affected us and that was where the game was decided.”

The leading scorer in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference averaging 16.5 points per game, Perkins was held to 11 points in 27 minutes of play with Duggan adding seven points and seven rebounds.

Perkins entered the game averaging over 33 minutes per contest, sixth best in the MAAC.

Pittsburgh dominated the third quarter, holding Rider without a field goal for the final seven minutes of the period as the Panthers led 60-28 at the end of 30 minutes of play.

The Broncs out-scored Pitt 16-15 in the final quarter, led by six points each from Perkins and Posset.  Posset hit Rider's only two three-pointers of the game as the Broncs were 2-11 from long distance.

Rider forced 19 Pitt turnovers, led by three steals from Perkins but committed a season-high 28 turnovers, leading to 33 Panther points.

The Broncs were held to 25 percent shooting with Pitt shooting 47 percent.

The Panthers held a 50-12 advantage in the paint.

Rider's only other meeting with Pittsburgh came on December 16, 2012 when the Broncs won 65-48 also at the Petersen Events Center.

The Broncs play Central Michigan on December 28 in the semifinals of the Hawk Classic, hosted by Saint Joseph's University at 3pm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The Broncs will face Maryland Baltimore County or Saint Joseph's on December 29 at either 1pm or 3pm.

-RU-