Women's College Basketball
Rider University 58, Canisius College 56
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game

BUFFALO, N.Y.—Led by 16 points and eight rebounds from senior Lashay Banks (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter), the Rider University women's basketball team won its fourth game in a row, defeating the Golden Griffins of Canisius College 58-56 on Friday evening.

Tied 52-52, Banks hit a layup with 3:52 remaining in the game to give Rider a two-point lead and senior Marritta Gillcrease (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional) hit a free throw with 2:20 left in the contest to make the score 55-52.

“I just thought we played a gutsy second half,” said head coach Lynn Milligan.  “We stood strong and it was critical that we didn't lose the lead once we got it.  We are playing with determination and confidence.”

Gillcrease finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Canisius (8-18, 6-11 MAAC) hit a jumper with 1:14 left to cut the Bronc lead to one (57-56) and after a Bronc miss and two misses by the Golden Griffins, junior Manon Pellet (Marseille, France) made the front end of a one and one free throw opportunity with 2.8 seconds left for the final score.

Pellet finished with three points but added four rebounds and four assists.

The last time these teams met on February 1 in Lawrenceville, Pellet hit two free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining to give the Broncs a come from behind 52-51 win.

“With these teams, it's no surprise that the score was a two-point game and the game was in the 50s,” Milligan said.

Trailing 6-0 , three minutes into the game, Rider (11-16, 8-9 MAAC) went on an 8-0 run, five points by sophomore Robin Perkins (Willingboro/Trenton Catholic) and three points by senior Emily Fazzini (Wayne, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) as the Broncs went into the lead 8-6 with 15:14 left in the opening half.

Rider's leading scorer at almost 12 points per game, Perkins was limited to seven points but added five rebounds and two assists with Fazzini adding 12 points.

Leading 12-11, Rider went on an 8-2 run, four points by Banks as the Broncs expanded the lead to 20-13, midway through the opening half.

“Lashay came in fired up,” said Milligan.  “She shot the ball super confident and her shots were just money tonight.  She also played with a lot of energy on the defensive end as well.”

Banks was 8-11 from the field in the game and made her first six shots of the game, finishing 6-7 in the opening half.

The rest of the opening half saw both teams trading baskets and Rider went into intermission leading 33-26.

Rider opened the second half on a 10-3 run, six points by Fazzini as the Broncs opened up their larest lead of the game at 14 points with 16:17 remaining.

Trailing 43-29, Canisius used a 13-2 run to cut the Bronc lead to three points with 12:54 left.

After Rider pushed the lead back to eight (50-42), Canisius used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 52-52 with 4:16 left in the game.

Also for Rider, sophomore Julia Duggan (Marmora/Ocean City) scored eight points and added four rebounds.

“Julia was steady,” Milligan said.  “She made some great plays at the end.”

After beginning conference play 0-6, Rider has won eight of its last 11 games and the Golden Griffins have lost six in a row.

“That's the beauty of watching your team grow,” Milligan said.  “You hope you grow faster in December but we didn't.  We are doing what we have to do down the stretch to win ball games.  Sometimes it's not pretty and that's fine.  This was just a solid team effort on both ends of the floor.”

Rider out-shot Canisius 45 percent (24-53) to 38 percent (21-55). 

Tonight was the 39th meeting all-time between Rider and Canisius with Rider only winning for the ninth time.

Rider is now 4-0 this season when giving up exactly 56 points with wins over Old Dominion, LIU Brooklyn, Niagara and now Canisius.

Rider got help in its quest for an opening round bye in the conference playoffs with Niagara losing to Monmouth 81-69 in double overtime.  The Purple Eagles had defeated defending MAAC champion Marist College last week.  The Broncs stay in Western, New York to face Niagara on Sunday at 1pm.

-RU-