MORGANTOWN, WV – The Rider University women's basketball team saw their season come to an end on Thursday evening with a 83-43 setback to West Virginia in the first round of the 2019 WNIT at the WVU Coliseum.

The Broncs (19-12) were making their second WNIT appearance in the last three years and their second appearance in program history, while the Mountaineers (21-10) saw their two-game losing streak come to an end.

West Virginia extended a 10-point halftime leads thanks to outscoring Rider, 21-12, in the third quarter. Coming out of halftime, the Broncs shot just 4-of-17 from the field and 2-of-10 from the three-point line. In the third, WVU got to the foul line 14 times to maintain a double-digit advantage.

In the fourth, the Mountaineers opened on a 15-2 run over the first five minutes to pull away.

Junior guard Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) led the Rider attack offensively with 18 points to go along with nine rebounds, while classmate Lea Favre (Vevey, Switzerland/Lycee Jeanne D'Arc) chipped in 12 points.

In her final game as a Bronc, senior point guard Lexi Posset (Pittsburgh, PA/Beaver Area) scored eight points thanks to hitting 5-of-6 at the free-throw line.

NOTES & QUOTES
"It's difficult to process the whole season right now, but for the whole season I'm proud of everything we did and the step the program took. It did not end the way we wanted. We don't feel like we had our best effort these last two games against Marist and West Virginia. I'm really proud of the effort today and the fight that we had. I think that Mia, TJ and LP went out the way that seniors are supposed too." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"It's hard to sum up what playing for Rider has meant to me. Playing for Rider has been great. It's huge for the program to be in games like this. We get publicity that's great. Coming in my freshman year we were 8-22 and I didn't think this was possible. It means a lot to make to the WNIT two of the last three years." – Rider senior point guard Lexi Posset  

- Rider's 19 wins this season are the second-most in program history since joining Division I following the 1981-82 season.
- The Broncs shot 14 percent (4-of-27) from three-point range.
- West Virginia outrebounded Rider, 61-31.
- The Broncs blocked five shots.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella was 7-of-19 shooting from the field. She also added two assists, one block and one steal. She ends her junior campaign with 1,422 career points. Stella is also second in program history with 250 steals. She is five away from setting a new Rider record.
- Posset's illustrious career ends with her having scored 964 points in 119 career games. She leaves Lawrenceville in the top-10 in program history in assists (296), games played and free-throw percentage (.775).
- Favre scored in double figures for the third game in a row and the fifth time in her last six appearances.
- Amanda Mobley had two blocked shots.
- Daija Moses had two steals for Rider.