Lawrenceville, NJ – Sophomore Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) stuffed the stat sheet and poured in a career-high 28 points to lead the Rider University women's basketball team past visiting Vermont, 64-49, on Friday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Broncs (1-6) put an end to their six-game skid to open the year with the 15-point victory, while the Catamounts (2-6) dropped their fourth contest in a row.

Johnson was an efficient 11-of-14 shooting on the night, highlighted by hitting 4-of-5 from three-point range. The speedy guard also added six assists, five steals, four rebounds and posted a 6-to-1 turnover to assist ratio. Her career night and a stout defensive effort by the rest of the Broncs propelled the team to victory.   

Rider trailed for just over 90 seconds on the night and that came early in the second quarter. After a steal and lay-up from Johnson to make it 14-13 in favor of the hosts, the Broncs never trailed against stretching their lead to as many as 15 late in the contest.

With the score tied at 20 late in the first half, the Broncs closed the second quarter on an 8-0 run capped by a trey from sophomore Lexi Stover (Malvern, PA/Archbishop Carroll) to pull away.  

Offensively, senior Kamila Hoskova (Brno, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka) was the other Bronc in double figures with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Hoskova also hit all four of her free throw attempts.

NOTES & QUOTES
"It's nice to decompress for half a second. It feels good to get that first one. We've been playing well and we've been close. Win or lose tonight we are still a work in progress. We're still trying to figure out our true identity and how we like to play. When you hold a team under 50 on your home floor that's a game you should win. I thought defensively we did a really good job locking them up. " – Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"My team was really hyped up in the locker room before the game started and we just wanted to win. Kami and LP helped out a lot tonight too. In practice we've been getting our shots up everyday. Once one person hits it, it helps builds our confidence." – Sophomore guard Stella Johnson

"Turning defense into offense is big for us until we get our shooting percentages where we want them. Our defense has to create some easier looks for us. We got back into that a little bit tonight. We had a couple of times where we fouled them a few possessions in a row and I think that slows us down more than the other team. We did much better job with the discipline on our defense." – Milligan

- The win was the first-ever for the Broncs against the Catamounts in the third meeting between the two.   
- Rider had nine offensive rebounds in the first half compared to zero for UVM.
- Rider outrebounded Vermont, 35-34, for the game.
- The Broncs hit a season-high eight three-pointers in the game.
- Rider won all four quarters, outscoring the Catamounts in each 10-minute spurt.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Hoskova has scored in double figures a team-high six times.
- As a team, Rider was 12-of-14 from the free-throw line.
- Stella Johnson set new career-highs in points (28), field goals made (11) and three-pointers made (4).
- Lexi Posset had seven points, five rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in 39 minutes of action.
- Sophomore Aubre Johnson had four points and team-best eight rebounds.

UP NEXT
Rider returns to action on Wednesday, December 6, with a road non-conference clash versus regional rival La Salle at 7:00 pm inside the Tom Gola Arena at Trumark Financial Center. Last November, the Broncs defeated the Explorers, 74-61, in Lawrenceville. The victory was the first-ever for Rider against La Salle. The contest will feature live stat as well as audio and video feeds. For the links visit the women's basketball schedule page on GoBroncs.com.