ALBANY, NY – The second-seeded Rider University women's basketball team used a 16-0 third-quarter run to defeat No. 10 Iona, 54-46, on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2019 MAAC Championship.

The Broncs (19-11) advanced to the MAAC Championship semifinals for the third year in a row, while the Gaels (5-26) fell to Rider for the seventh straight time.

Trailing by 15 at the break, Rider outscored Iona, 20-4, in the third quarter to take one-point edge at 36-35 into the fourth. During the third, the Broncs used a 16-0 run that started with a driving lay-up from junior guard Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) and ended with a bucket from Daija Moses (Toronto, Ontario/Henry Street) off a feed from Stella five minutes later.

All told, the Broncs held Iona to 10 percent (1-of-10) shooting in the third quarter and forced four Iona turnovers coming out of halftime.

Offensively, Stella paced the Rider attack with a game-high 20 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds, a game-high seven assists and one steal. Stella wasn't the only Bronc with a double-double on the day as junior Lea Favre (Vevey, Switzerland/Lycee Jeanne D'Arc) scored 10 points and pulled down 10 boards.

Playing in her 117th career game, senior point guard Lexi Posset (Pittsburgh, PA/Beaver Area) was the other Bronc in double figures with 12 points thanks to knocking down a pair of three-pointers.

NOTES & QUOTES
"Welcome to the MAAC Tournament. That was a good first game for us. Obviously we played a much better second half. Iona came in with a terrific gameplan and really took it to us in the first half. We had the word 'WE' written on the board in the locker room today and we just kind of reiterated what that meant at halftime. In the second half you saw a lot more of the Rider basketball that we are very proud of." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"The biggest change in the second half was the play of Lexi Posset. Defensively we were locked in more in the second half. They hit seven threes in the first half and only two in the second. Our press did a really good job. Daija Moses and Mia Farmer really gave us a spark off the bench, especially on the defensive end." – Milligan

- Rider has now won at least one game in the MAAC Tournament in each of the last three seasons.
- The Broncs shot over 64 percent (9-of-14) from the field in the third quarter.
- The Broncs advance to the MAAC Semifinals for the third year in a row and the fourth time in program history.
- The two teams combined to take just eight foul shots on the day. Rider was 4-of-6 at the line.
- Rider was 4-of-19 from three-point range. It was their second win this year when they've hit fewer than five three-pointers in a game.
- Earlier in the day, Stella Johnson was named the MAAC Player of the Year.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- It was the third double-double of the season for Stella. It marked the ninth time this season that a Rider player has recorded a double-double in a game. The Broncs are 8-1 in those games.
- Stella now has 248 steals in her career. She is seven away from setting a program record. She is also ninth in program history with 311 assists.
- It was Lea's second double-double of the season and her second in the last three games. She was 5-of-9 from the field.

UP NEXT
Rider returns to action on Sunday, March 10, taking part in the 2019 MAAC Championship Semifinals. The Broncs will face the winner of Saturday's contest between No. 3 seed Marist and sixth-seeded Manhattan.