RIVERDALE, NY – Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Rider University women's basketball team past host Manhattan, 55-50, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action inside Draddy Gymnasium.
 
The Broncs (19-4, 12-2 MAAC) won their second straight road game, while the Jaspers (10-14, 7-8 MAAC) have now dropped three of their last four games.
 
Rider erased an early deficit and ended the first half on an 11-0 run to take a two-point lead into halftime at 23-21. The Broncs held the Jaspers scoreless over the final six minutes of the second quarter.
 
The Broncs never trailed in the second half and stretched their lead to as many as 10 late in the third following a jumper from Stella.
 
Stella stuffed the stat sheet once again for Rider as she added seven rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks. Senior Lea Favre (Vevey, Switzerland/Lycee Jeanne D'Arc) was the other Bronc in double figures with 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
 
NOTES & QUOTES
"This was our third game in six days on the road in a really tough place to play. Stella needed to step up for us to come out of here with a hard-fought win and that's what she did. It's been a tough week being on the road. We knew what we were in for tonight. They are an incredibly well-coached team. We had some tremendous stops and I thought we executed really well. We are really happy to get the win." – Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan
 
"This is something I'll process a lot later. It really means that I'm old and I've been here a long time. I've been blessed with tremendous assistant coaches, people around me and tremendous players. I'm very thankful for all of them to make something like this happen. The person that I passed was my coach, Coach Price, he's down in Florida. I hope he's watching he was like a second dad to me. It's really special for me to be mentioned with him." – Milligan on breaking the record for most wins by a coach in program history
 
- Lynn Milligan passed her former coach Eldon Price for the most wins (163) in program history.  
- Rider has now won eight of the last nine meetings with Manhattan.
- The win was the fifth straight for the Broncs at Draddy Gymnasium.
- Rider improved to 12-2 in MAAC play for the first time in program history. The previous-best 14-game start to MAAC play was 11-3 which the team did last season.
- Rider had 19 assists and committed just 12 turnovers. The Broncs are 9-0 this year when they have more assists than turnovers.
- The Broncs forced 15 Jasper turnovers. Rider is 7-0 in MAAC play when they commit fewer turnovers than their opponent.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella knocked down 11-of-25 from the field. It was her sixth game with 11 or more made field goals this season. No other player in the MAAC has more than one. It was her seventh game this season with five or more assists. It was also Stella's fifth game with five or more steals this year.
- Lea Favre scored in double figures for the 16th time in her last 18 games. She also added four rebounds and three assists.
- Amari Johnson scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds. It was 17th game with 10 or more boards this year. She also added three steals.
- Amanda Mobley dished out five assists for the Broncs.
- Aubre Johnson grabbed a season-high seven rebounds and tied a season-best with three steals.
 
UP NEXT
Rider hits the road to face Quinnipiac on Thursday, February 20, in Connecticut. Opening tip is slated for 6:00 pm as the Broncs are looking to complete the regular-season sweep of the Bobcats.