Lawrenceville, NJ – The Rider University women's basketball team closed out non-conference play with a 76-54 setback versus Binghamton on Thursday evening inside Alumni Gymnasium.

Three players scored in double figures for the short-handed Broncs as the team sets its sight on conference play beginning on December 28.

Rider (3-8) dropped their second straight to the Bearcats (8-4) in the first meeting between the two teams since the 2014-15 campaign.

The two teams went back-and-forth early as a pair of free throws from Rider sophomore Lea Favre (Vevey, Switzerland/Lycee Jeanne D'Arc) tied the game at 14 all six and a half minutes into play. The Bearcats would answer would a 9-0 run to close out the opening lead to lead 23-14 after 10 minutes of action.

Binghamton made their run after Bronc senior Kamila Hoskova (Brno, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka) took an elbow to the nose and went to the bench.

In the second quarter, Rider shot an impressive 62 percent (5-of-8) from the field and hit three of their four attempts from beyond the arc. The Bearcats took advantage of seven Rider turnovers in the second frame to hold a nine-point lead at 37-28 heading into halftime.  

The Broncs outscored Binghamton, 22-20, coming out of halftime to trail by seven at 57-50 heading into the final stanza. In the third, Rider connected on three shots from three-point range.

The guests opened the fourth quarter on a 17-4 run to pull away en route to the win.

Offensively, sophomore Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) led the charge for the Broncs. Johnson scored a team-high 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. Sophomore guard Lexi Stover (Malvern, PA/Arhcbishop Carroll) knocked down a career-high four three-pointers to add 12 points for Rider. The other Bronc in double figures was Favre with 12 points to go along with six rebounds.

NOTES & QUOTES
"I'm really proud of our effort tonight. If you watched the game it wasn't a 20-point game. This is a team that's going to go to battle for us in the MAAC. When you're down two guards and then you lose Kami. Tonight we had posts playing guard spots, Stella was running the point and everything was all over the place. The adjustments we had to make in-game were made. I think we just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"Aubre battled. It was a really good post battle. Aubre made her work for her points. Our help side defense was there. The thing we needed to do a little better was boxing her out after forcing her to take some tough shots." – Milligan

"Stover is one of our captains. She's been there and done that. She's a sophomore on the roster, but she really plays and acts like a senior out there. We count on her to be one our leaders. She did a great job tonight playing extended minutes." ­- Milligan   

- Binghamton now leads the all-time series, 3-2, after taking the last two meeting between the two.
- Three Broncs scored in double figures for the fourth game in a row.
- The Broncs connected on eight shots from three-point range. It was their third game this year with eight or more three-pointers made.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Hoskova scored five points in seven minutes.
- Aubre Johnson grabbed a career-best nine rebounds. It was her fourth game of the season with eight or more boards.
- Stella Johnson added four rebounds, three assists and one block. She also hit 4-of-6 from the free-throw line.
- Stover played a career-high 39 minutes. She grabbed three rebounds and was 4-of-11 from beyond the arc.
- Favre scored in double figures for the second game in a row and the third time this season.

UP NEXT
Rider returns to action after the brief holiday break to open Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) at versus Marist on Thursday, December 28. The Broncs and Red Foxes will square off inside Alumni Gymnasium at 7:00 pm. Rider swept the regular season series with Marist last year for the first time in program history. The contest is the second of three straight home games for the Broncs and will feature live stat as well as audio and video feeds. For the links visit the women's basketball schedule page on GoBroncs.com.