Lawrenceville, NJ – A 14-0 third-quarter run propelled visiting Fairfield past the Rider University women's basketball team, 68-57, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Broncs (8-13, 5-5 MAAC) saw their two-game home conference winning streak come to end, while the Stags (8-12, 5-4 MAAC) snapped their two-game league losing streak.

Fairfield closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run, holding the Broncs without a field goal over the final 2:47 to take a five-point lead at 15-10 into the second. Rider would answer in the second quarter, outscoring the Stags, 16-10.

Junior point guard Lexi Posset (Pittsburgh, PA/Beaver Area) turned it on in the second, scoring eight points thanks to hitting a pair of three-pointers as the Broncs held a 26-25 advantage at the half. The trio of Posset, senior Kamila Hoskova (Brno, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka) and sophomore Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) combined for 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting during the first 20 minutes.

The two teams traded runs in the third quarter as Rider scored the first six points of the frame before Fairfield reeled off a 14-0 run to take an eight point lead at 39-31. During the spurt, the Broncs went 0-of-6 from the field, while the Stags hit a trio of three-pointers. The Broncs trimmed the deficit to just three at 45-42 heading into the fourth, but the Stags would on for the win.  

Fairfield stretched its lead to as many 14 late in the fourth quarter. The Stags hit 5-of-13 from the field and hit 11 free throws to hold off the Bronc rally.

It was a balanced offensive attack as four different Broncs scored in double figures. Hoskova scored 14 points for Rider, while Stella Johnson added 13. Both Posset and freshman Jaiden Morris (Richmond, VA/Monacan) added 10 points apiece.    

NOTES & QUOTES
"I think we were off today. Credit Fairfield they came in here with a strong game plan and played very prepared basketball. We had some good stretches, but we made too many mistakes on the defensive end and that really cost us. We just didn't get it done." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"In the MAAC you need to come ready every game and today we weren't ready enough to win the game. It's a disappointing home loss, but we need to continue to move forward and continue our progress to make sure we are playing our best basketball in February." – Milligan  

- Fairfield and Rider split the season series after the Broncs topped the Stags earlier this month in January.
- Fairfield has won 9 of the last 10 regular season meetings between the two.
- Rider shot over 88 percent from the free-throw line (15-of-17).
- The Broncs shot just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) in the second half after hitting 11-of-25 from the field in the first half.
- Fairfield outrebounded Rider, 26-16, in the second half.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella Johnson scored 13 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. She's had at least one block in three straight games.
- Jaiden Morris scored in double figures for the second game in a row. She had 10 points off the bench thanks to hitting 2-of-5 from three-point range. Morris also had four rebounds.
- Lexi Posset had all 10 of her points in the first half. She hit 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Posset also had five rebounds.
- Kamila Hoskova had a team-high 14 points thanks to knocking down all eight of her free-throw attempts. She also pulled down three rebounds to go along with one assist and one steal.
- Off the bench, Lea Favre added six points in 10 minutes of action.  

UP NEXT
Rider returns to action at home on Thursday, February 1 with a home conference contest against Manhattan that is slated to get underway at 7:00 pm inside Alumni Gymnasium. The Broncs swept the season series with the Jaspers last year. 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.