HAMDEN, CT – The Rider University women's basketball team fell on the road to host Quinnipiac, 72-56, on Sunday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action inside the People's United Center.  

The Broncs (11-9, 7-2 MAAC) suffered their first conference loss on the road this year, while the Bobcats (15-6, 10-0 MAAC) remained unbeaten in league play with their 41st victory in a row against a MAAC opponent.

Rider started the game on a 7-0 run, but Quinnipiac quickly responded with a 7-0 spurt of their own. The Bobcats would take the lead late in the first thanks to closing the opening frame on a 6-0 run over the final 1:20 of the first half.

Quinnipiac took a six-point lead at 37-31 into the half as Rider saw of their four of their five starters pick up two fouls apiece during the first 15 minutes of action.

The Bobcat lead would balloon to 18 early in the fourth frame. The Broncs would use an 8-0 spurt capped by a trey from junior Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) to pull within 10. Rider was not able to cut it single digits down the stretch.

Two Broncs scored in double figures led by Stella with a team-high 22 points. Junior Amari Johnson (Red Lion, PA/Dallastown) was the other Rider in double figures with 15 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals.

NOTES & QUOTES
"The early trouble affected us a little bit. It took us out of our flow offensively. We took some shots we don't normally take during that stretch and defensively it caused some mismatches for us that we didn't want exposed. LP, Stella and Amari all played well with the fouls, but it took away from their aggressive play on defense." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"We're going to fight until the end. We know who we're chasing. Quinnipiac is the defending champion two times over for a reason. They're a great team, they play hard and do things the right way so we've got to make sure we continue to learn from the mistakes we made on the offensive and defensive ends." – Milligan  

- Quinnipiac now leads the all-time series with Rider, 14-0.
- The Broncs are now 5-1 on the road in the MAAC.
- Rider is now 7-2 in MAAC play for the second time under Head Coach Lynn Milligan and just the second time in program history. It ties their previous best eight-game start which the team achieved during their historic 2016-17 campaign.
- Rider shot over 42 percent from the field (21-of-49) and 40 percent from three-point range (6-of-15).
- The Broncs had 16 assists on 21 made field goals.
- Rider had 13 offensive rebounds and Quinnipiac had 16.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella was 4-of-9 from three-point range. She also added six rebounds, two assists and one block. With her 22 points she is now ninth in program history with 1,217 points. She moved past former teammate Robin Perkins (1,203) on the all-time scoring list.
- Amari was 6-of-12 from the field for the Broncs. She has scored 15 or more points in three straight games and four of her last five appearances.
- Lexi Posset had nine points and a game-high five assists for the Broncs.
- As a team, Rider was 8-of-10 at the free-throw line. The Broncs have shot 80 percent at charity stripe in back-to-back games.  

UP NEXT
Rider returns home to take on hOURglass rival Monmouth on Thursday, February 7. Opening tip is slated for 7:00 pm as the Broncs are looking for the regular-season sweep of the Hawks after topping Monmouth in West Long Branch earlier in the year.