Women's College Basketball
Rider University 68, Saint Peter's University 67
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game

JERSEY CITY— Every second counts.  And every offensive rebound.  And every shot. 

Sophomore Kamila Hoskova (Czech Republic/SSMH Brno) collected an offensive rebound and hit a put back shot with 0.1 seconds remaining as the Rider University women's basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak with a 68-67 win at Saint Peter's Tuesday evening in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game. 

“Kam always seems to be in the right place at the right time,” said head coach Lynn Milligan.  “She battles.  I'm just proud of our effort tonight.”

“Robin (Perkins) shot it and I was under the basket and I knew we didn't have much time so I put it back up,” Hoskova recalled about the final play.  “I missed a box out in the final minute that gave Saint Peter's the lead so I wanted to make up for it.  Every play matters and it is important to stay focused on the court.”

Rider only had six offensive rebounds in the game (to 11 for Saint Peter's) and none bigger than Hoskova's second of the game.

Hoskova's field goal was the 15th and final lead change of the contest and came after junior Robin Perkins (Willingboro, NJ/Trenton Catholic) drove the lane with less than five seconds left on the final Bronc possession and had her layup contested by two Peacocks, setting up the final sequence.

The third leading scorer in the MAAC entering play at 14.1 points per game, Perkins finished one off a career-high with 26 points on 9-18 shooting.

“When Robin scores, we tend to be more successful,” Milligan said.  “She did a nice job working off screens and waiting for plays to develop.”

Saint Peter's (4-19, 2-12 MAAC) was led by Hala Mostafa who had 14 points.

Trailing 61-60, Rider (5-18, 2-12 MAAC) scored four straight points on a layup from freshman Lexi Posset (Pittsburgh, Pa./Beaver Area) and two free throws from Perkins as the Broncs took a 64-61 lead with 2:02 left in the final quarter.

Posset followed with two free throws with 32 seconds left to give the Broncs a 66-63 lead before Saint Peter's Sajanna Bethea made a layup with 20 seconds remaining to finish with 12 points.  Posset missed back to back free throws with 14.7 seconds left and Saint Peter's took a 67-66 lead with 7.2 seconds left on a jumper from Talah Hughes. 

Hughes was one of five Peacocks in double-digits, finishing with 12 points.

Making her second career start, Posset tied a career-high with 14 points and added four assists, three rebounds and a steal, playing a career-high 30 minutes.

“With Manon (Pellet) injured the last six games, Lexi has really stepped into that point guard role,” Milligan said.  “She is starting to understand the game and when and why we do certain things.”

Posset was five for five from the field including two for two from three-point range in the contest.

Trailing 58-52 Rider used a 5-0 run, two points each by Posset and junior Julia Duggan (Marmora/Ocean City) to get within one and a three-pointer by Hoskova tied the game 60-60 with 3:09 left in the game.

Duggan finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

“We were able to get Jules some nice touches inside,” Milligan said.

Trailing 43-39, Saint Peter's used a 5-0 run to take a 44-43 lead with 4:00 left in the third period and the Peacocks led 52-50 after three periods.

Duggan opened the third quarter with a jumper, Posset followed with a layup and Perkins hit a jumper, putting Rider back into the lead 40-35, 2:04 into the period after the 6-0 run.

Trailing 2-0 to open the game, Rider went on a 5-0 run, three points by Posset as the Broncs had an early 5-2 lead 3:10 into the contest.

Leading 7-6, Rider went on a 6-0 run, two points each by Duggan, sophomore C'quoya Haughton (Albany, N.Y./Stoneleigh Burnham Prep) and Hoskova as the Broncs pushed their lead to 13-6 with 2:06 left in the opening quarter.

Haughton scored two points and adding three assists and two steals.

Rider led 15-10 after one period.

Posset hit her second three pointer of the game, giving Rider an 18-10 lead, 28 seconds into the second quarter.

Saint Peter's responded with a 13-4 run, taking a 23-22 lead with 5:44 left in the second period.

Perkins hit a three-pointer and Duggan had an offensive rebound and put back giving the Broncs a 29-26 lead with 3:28 left in the second period.  Perkins had eight of Rider's last 10 points of the second quarter.

Saint Peter's led 35-34 at intermission, out-scoring the Broncs 25-19 in the second quarter.

Each team made 26 field goals with Rider out-shooting Saint Peter's 51 percent to 44 percent.

The hOURglass rivalry game was the 60th meeting in the series with Rider winning for the 16th time against Saint Peter's.

“The win feels great after the long struggle of some of the losses,” Hoskova added.

Rider is 2-0 in games decided by one point this season including a 61-60 overtime win over Lehigh on December 17, 2015 and the Broncs have won their last three one-point decisions in a row.  Saint Peter's defeated the Broncs in two out of three games last season including a one-point decision in Jersey City.

Since 1977-78, Rider is 26-24 in games decided by the slimmest of margins and the Broncs are 8-8 under Milligan in one point games.

Five of Rider's last 11 games that were decided by one point have been against Saint Peter's.

Rider and Saint Peter's meet in Lawrenceville on February 18 at 7pm.

The Broncs make their annual Western, New York trip this weekend, facing Canisius College on February 12 at 7pm on ESPN 3 with Rider playing at Niagara University on February 14 at 2pm.

-RU-