KISSIMMEE, FL – Senior guard Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) scored a career-high 41 points to lead the Rider University women's basketball team past Lipscomb, 81-76, on Friday afternoon at HP Field House as part of the MAAC/ASUN Challenge.
 
Johnson set a single-game program scoring record and poured in 18 points in the final quarter to help the Broncs (3-1) score their third victory in a row.
 
Trailing by 10 with just under six minutes remaining in regulation, Rider used a 17-3 run capped by a Lea Favre (Vevey, Switzerland/Lycee Jeanne D'Arc) put back to take a 75-71 lead with 1:20 left in the fourth.
 
During the surge, Lipscomb was 0-for-3 from the field and committed three turnovers.
 
Rider went 8-of-8 at the free-throw line down the stretch to hold on for the come-from-behind victory.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"We always say we have to learn wins and learn from losses. We had lapses in our defensive discipline today. Lipscomb did a great job finding the open player. They hit some big threes, but we have to do a better job of closing up our lanes and guarding each action a little better than we did today. That being said, being down 10 is shows the determination of this team to understand what we need to do to win. To pull ourselves together, get the timely stops we needed and Stella is in a zone right now where she refuses to let us lose." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan
 
- The contest marked the first-ever between Rider and Lipscomb.
- The game was part of the 2019 MAAC/ASUN Challenge.
- Rider shot a season-high 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field.
- Stella broke the previous single-game scoring record of 37 which was held by Nancy Carroll and MyNeshia McKenzie.
- Rider hit a season-high eight three-pointers in the win and shot a season-best 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from beyond the arc.
- Rider tied a season-high with 23 free-throws made.
- The Broncs tied a season-best with 10 offensive rebounds.
- Rider forced a season-high 21 turnovers, while committing a season-low 14.
- The contest had 17 lead changes.
- On Monday, Stella Johnson was named both the MAAC Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness MAAC Player of the Week.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella was 10-of-23 from the field. She also set a new career-high with 17 free-throws made. She added a season-high eight rebounds to go along with three steals, two blocks and two assists. She is the first MAAC player to score over 40 points since Niagara's Victoria Rampado had 41 at Siena in January of 2018.
- Amanda Mobley had a career-high 18 points for Rider. She also had two steals and three assists. Mobley was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field.
- Tracey Goodman poured in eight points off the bench. She started the game by going 3-of-3 from the field with seven points in the first quarter.
- Freshman Maya Hyacienth scored her first collegiate points with a jumper in the fourth quarter. 
 
UP NEXT
Rider closes out the 2019 MAAC/ASUN Challenge on Saturday, November 23, with a tilt against North Florida that is scheduled to tip at 2:30 inside the HP Field House at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.