Poughkeepsie, NY – The Marist women's basketball team scored the final five points and erased a four-point deficit to defeat visiting Rider, 68-67, on Sunday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action inside McCann Arena.

The Broncs (7-12, 4-4 MAAC) dropped their second straight road conference game, while the Red Foxes (9-10, 5-2 MAAC) rallied to secure a regular-season sweep of Rider.

Clinging to a four-point edge with under 40 seconds remaining, the Broncs forced a stop and were fouled. After Rider missed both free throws, Marist got to the foul line with 20 seconds remaining. The Red Foxes hit the first free throw and grabbed an offensive board after missing the second.

After the rebound, Marist scored on a putback and Maura Fitzpatrick was fouled. Her free throw was no good, but once again Marist grabbed an offensive rebound on a loose ball that bounced around. Grace Vander Weide corralled the ball and she was fouled with just under seven seconds left. She hit both free throws to give Marist a 68-67 lead. The advantage was the first for the hosts since midway through the third quarter.

Both of Rider's shots on their final possession were blocked by Marist.

Trailing 11-9 midway through the first quarter, the Broncs used a 10-0 run over a three-minute span to build a 19-11 edge. During the opening frame, Rider shot over 52 percent (10-of-19) from the field and hit a trio of three-pointers to lead, 23-18, after 10 minutes.

The Broncs turned it on defensively in the second quarter, forcing six Marist turnovers. However, Rider shot just 4-of-15 in the second quarter as the Red Foxes whittled the deficit down to just one at 35-34 heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, Marist pulled even with Rider thanks to getting to the foul line 10 times in the frame.  Rider held the Red Foxes to 4-of-13 shooting in the stanza, but the  hosts scored the final four points of the quarter as the two conference foes were knotted at 50 heading into the fourth.   

The balanced offensive attack for the Broncs saw four different players score in double figures led by junior point guard Lexi Posset (Pittsburgh, PA/Beaver Area) with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Sophomore guard Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic), senior Kamila Hoskova (Brno, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka) and sophomore Lexi Stover (Malvern, PA/Arhcbishop Carroll) were the other Broncs to reach double figures.  

NOTES & QUOTES
"I'm really disappointed we let one slip away. It was a hard-fought, Marist-type game and we did a good job defensively. With a young team we need to get better at some in-game situations." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

- The Red Foxes took 32 free-throw attempts compared to just 11 for the Broncs. Rider was 8-of-11 at the line, while Marist converted 25-of-32 from the charity stripe.
- Marist leads the all-time series, 42-15.
- Rider is now 1-5 in games decided by five points of fewer this season.  
- The Broncs forced 12 Marist turnovers.
- Rider shot over 41 percent (26-of-63) from the field.
- The Broncs shot almost 39 percent from three-point range (7-of-18).
- Marist won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Rider, 41-34.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Posset has scored in double figures in back-to-back games. She was 3-of-5 from three-point range on the day. She knocked down both of her free-throw attempts. Posset grabbed four rebounds on the day.
- Hoskova shot 7-of-13 from the field and scored 18 points for the guests. She also pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
- Stella Johnson scored 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Stella also grabbed six rebounds and had a game-best four assists. On the defensive end, she added three blocks and a steal.
- Lexi Stover had 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting. She hit two shots from three-point range.
- Freshman Jaiden Morris scored five points off the bench for Rider.

UP NEXT
Rider returns to action on Thursday, January 25, with a road contest at Iona that is slated to get underway at 7:00 pm inside the Hynes Center in New Rochelle. The Broncs swept the regular-season series last year against the Gaels. Thursday's tilt will feature live stats as well as audio and video feeds. For the links visit the women's basketball schedule page on GoBroncs.com.