Women's College Basketball
Rider Opens MAAC Tourney Thursday

ALBANY, N.Y.—After four months of games from mid-November through the end of February, the real season begins this week when the Rider University women's basketball team heads to Albany, New York to face the Siena College Saints in the First Round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship.

#10 Rider and #7 Siena tip at 11:30am on Thursday, March 3 with the winner advancing to face second seed Iona College on Friday, March 4 at 2:30pm in the quarterfinals.

Rider (8-21, 5-15 MAAC) won three of five games to finish the regular season and the Broncs are led by junior Robin Perkins who was named to the All-MAAC Second Team on Monday.

Perkins leads Rider in scoring, entering the conference tournament at 15.1 points per game which is third best in the MAAC.

Perkins is seventh in the MAAC averaging 1.6 steals per game and she is also 13th in the conference, converting 71 percent of her free throws.

Perkins was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team at the beginning of the season.

Perkins is a 58-game veteran for the Broncs after transferring from St. Francis (Pa.). 

Rider and Siena split the season series in 2015-16 with each winning on their home floor.  Siena won 66-45 on January 8 in Loudonville and the Broncs returned the favor 70-58 on January 17.

In the game in Lawrenceville, Siena came into the contest 7-0 and in first place in the MAAC.  Including that game, the Saints are 3-10 in conference play since that undefeated start.

Siena is 31-10 all-time against the Broncs however Rider has won six of the last eight in the series.

The Saints are 3-0 all-time against Rider in the MAAC playoffs.

If you can't make it to Albany, all games of the tournament involving the Rider women's team can be heard live on 107.7 FM The Bronc and www.1077thebronc.com with Jeff Nolan and Dick Wiseman bringing you all the action.

-RU-