ALBANY, NY – Sophomore Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) and junior Lexi Posset (Pittsburgh, PA/Beaver Area) combined to score 42 points, but it wasn't enough as the fifth-seeded Rider University women's basketball team fell to No. 1 seed Quinnipiac, 82-62, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) semifinals on Sunday afternoon at the Time Union Center.

The Broncs (14-17) saw their MAAC Tournament run come to an end against the Bobcats (26-5) for the second year in a row.

Stella scored a team-high 24 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Posset poured in 18 points thanks to going 7-of-8 at the charity stripe. Posset stuffed the stat sheet for the Broncs, grabbing eight boards and dishing out six assists. The pair 14-of-34 from the field, while the rest of the team hit 8-of-27.

Rider came out of the gates charging, opening the contest on a 9-0 run over the first three minutes of play capped by a pair of free throws from senior Kamila Hoskova (Brno, Czech Republic/Sportovni Gymnazium Ludvika Danka). During the spurt, the Broncs hit their first three shots from the field. Quinnipiac answered the early Rider onslaught by ending the quarter on a 14-0 run. The Broncs were held scoreless over the final 6:16 of the first quarter as the Bobcats led, 16-12, after 10 minutes.

The Quinnipiac run stretched to 21-0 in the second quarter before a lay-up from Rider sophomore Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic). The Bobcats hit seven of their first eight attempts from the field in the frame to stretch their lead to as many as 14. The Broncs whittled the deficit down to 10 as QU took a 37-27 edge into the break.

Quinnipiac shot over 50 percent from the field in the third to maintain a double-digit advantage. With time winding down in the stanza, Rider sophomore Aubre Johnson (Post Falls, ID/Post Falls) took a feed from and sank a buzzer beater from the top of the key. The basket brought the Broncs within 16 as Quinnipiac led 63-47 after three quarters.

Hoskova also scored in double figures for the Broncs.

NOTES & QUOTES
"I thought today was a solid effort by us. We fought for 40 minutes, we played hard and represented Rider and our uniform extremely well. Quinnipiac was better than us today we need to use that to process our season and look to the future." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"We wanted to make sure everyone knew that we were here to play to start the game. Our kids are always ready to go and they were in attack mode early on." – Milligan

"Kamila came in four years ago and has just developed her game the way you're supposed to. She's done things on and off the court that you're supposed to. She worked hard every day for four years and she was the heart and soul of our team." Milligan on Kamila Hoskova after her final game at Rider

- Quinnipiac has won all 12 meetings in the series history.
- Rider's last two MAAC Tournament losses have come to Quinnipiac.
- Rider shot 75 percent (12-of-16) at the line. The team made their first attempts.
- The Broncs were 6-of-13 from three-point range.  

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella Johnson scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games for the second time this season and the second time in her career. To end the year, she scored over 20 points in four of the last six contests. She hit 3-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc.
- Posset scored in double figures for the 13th time this year. She also dished out six assists for the second game in a row.
- Hoskova ends her career with Rider with a 12-point, 5-rebound performance. She is just the third player in program history to hit over 80 percent of career free throws. Hoskova also ranks second in program history with 123 games played and eighth in Bronc history with 1,255 points.