Niagara University, NY – The Rider University women's basketball team saw its fourth-quarter rally fall short in a 69-61 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) loss to Niagara on Friday evening at the Taps Gallagher Center.

The Broncs (11-15, 8-7 MAAC) suffered their second straight road conference loss, while the Purple Eagles (10-16, 7-8 MAAC) put an end to their two-game league losing streak.

It was a two-headed attack for Rider as sophomore guard Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) and senior Kamila Hoskova (Brno, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka) combined to score 45 of the team's 61 points.

It was a back-and-forth game early before Niagara closed the first half on an 11-0 run. Over the final 2:55 of the second quarter, the Purples Eagles hit all four of their field-goal attempts and a pair of free throws. To close out the opening half, the Broncs missed their final three shots and committed one turnover as Niagara held a 32-22 edge at the break.

The Purple Eagles outscored the Broncs by three in the third quarter to take a 13-point lead into the fourth.

Rider came out possessed in the final stanza, opening on an 8-0 run highlighted by a pair of treys from Johnson. The Broncs would score 10 of the first 11 points in the fourth to cut the deficit to four at 50-46 with seven minutes to play.

The Broncs would not get any closer as the Purple Eagles hit their free throws and knocked down a pair of three-pointers with the shot clock winding down.

Niagara snapped a four-game losing streak to the Broncs with the eight-point win.

NOTES & QUOTES
"We picked a bad time for one of our worst shooting nights of the year. We battled tonight. Sixty is our magic number and even shooting badly if we get a couple more stops we're on the plus-side. We had a few possessions where we were on defense for about a minute and that will wear you down. Defensively, our effort was there, but we just got worn down on a couple possessions." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"We got ourselves to the free-throw line in the second half which you need to do when you're struggling. We shot our free throws well, we just needed to hit a couple of shots and we didn't tonight." – Milligan  

- Niagara leads the all-time series, 26-21.
- Rider is now 0-11 overall and 0-5 in MAAC play when trailing at halftime.
- The Broncs are 0-7 in league play when allowing over 60 points.
- Rider forced 18 turnovers in the game. The Broncs have forced 17 or more turnovers in five straight games.
- Rider shot 30 percent (18-of-60) from the field. The only two Broncs with more than one field-goal made on Friday were Johnson and Hoskova.
- Rider hit 22-of-28 from the free-throw line. The Broncs hit 20 or more free throws for the fourth time this season and the first time in MAAC play.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella leads the team with 21 blocked shots. She has blocked at least one shot in seven of her last eight games. She also registered a season-high seven steals to go along with seven rebounds. Stella scored 20 points on 7-of-21 shooting. Eleven of her points came in the fourth quarter. It was her second game in a row with six or more steals.
- Hoskova scored a team-high 25 points thanks to knocking down 11-of-13 attempts from the free-throw line. Both of those marks tied career-high which she set earlier this season. She also added four rebounds and two steals. She was 7-of-15 shooting from the field.
- Junior point guard Lexi Posset grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the game, 11 of which came on the defensive end. She also added seven points and four assists. Posset hit 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.   

UP NEXT
Rider closes out a weekend of action in western New York on Sunday, February 18 with a showdown versus Canisius that is slated to begin at 2:00 pm on ESPN3. The Broncs are looking for the regular-season sweep after topping the Griffs, 70-54, in early January in Lawrenceville. Sunday'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.