LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Senior guard Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) scored a MAAC Championship record 37 points and posted a double-double with a career-high 14 rebounds as the top-seeded Rider University women's basketball team held off Niagara, 79-74, in the Hercules Tires MAAC Championship Quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. With the win, the Broncs' (26-4) ninth straight, Rider will advance to face the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal match-up between fourth-seeded Manhattan and fifth-seeded Quinnipiac. The semifinal contest will be played Friday at 11 a.m.

Neither team could create separation in the first half, with the Broncs' largest lead being six points and the Purple Eagles also gaining a four-point cushion. The period ended with Niagara closing to within one, 43-42, on a three-pointer from MAAC 6^th Player of the Year Maggie McIntyre.

Rider opened the second half on a 7-0 run to create some separation. Amanda Mobley (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh) began the run with a three, before Johnson got inside for consecutive buckets. The lead swelled to 10 on a Stella Johnson three-point play at the 4:38 mark, before Niagara scored 12 of the next 14 points to tie the game on a pair of free throws at the 1:37 mark. The Purple Eagles tied the game twice more in the third quarter, before Johnson's lay-up with 23 seconds left in the period put Rider on top, 63-61, after three.

The Broncs built their lead to five on two occasions in the fourth quarter before Niagara whittled it down to one on a pair of Emerald Ekpiteta free throws with 1:42 left. Lea Favre's (Vevey, Switzerland/Lycee Jeanne D'Arc) jumper at the 1:20 mark gave Rider a three-point lead, before Ekpiteta answered with two free throws with 37 seconds remaining to again cut it to one. Rider then milked 27 seconds off the 30-second shot clock and Mobley found Favre on the second-consecutive possession for a short jumper in the paint, putting Rider up by three with 10 seconds remaining. McIntyre's look at a deep three lightly drew iron and Amari Johnson (Red Lion, PA/Dallastown [Rhode Island]) made two free throws with four seconds left to ice the game.

QUOTES & NOTES
"I've been watching that for four years. Isn't it great? It's fun. That's what makes Stella special. We've said that all along. She's been the leading scorer in the nation. She's been leading the MAAC in scoring and that's obviously a huge accomplishment. But Stella is a complete basketball player. She plays both ends of the floor on every possession. She is as willing to shoot the ball as she is to give it up to a teammate. She is as willing to get an offensive rebound as she is a defensive rebound. Whatever she needs to do to help her team win, she's going to do. Today, it was scoring." - Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan

"I thought our defense was a little bit off today. And credit Niagara for picking on some things and finding some opening. We're going to make some corrections. We have the advantage of having a day off tomorrow, so we can make some corrections and fix some things that we didn't like today." - Milligan

"I just came out there to win for my team and I did what it takes to win." - Rider senior guard Stella Johnson

"Coming into the MAAC Tournament is always hard. Everyone knows who you are. It's not like a new team you're playing. They know who I am, who I pass to and what I do." - Stella Johnson

- Niagara leads the all-time series with the Broncs, 26-25. Rider swept the regular-season series with the Purple Eagles and have won four straight in the series.
- Johnson's 37 points set a new MAAC Championship record. The previous record was 36 points, accomplished twice by Loyola's Patty Stoffy in the 1994 Championships and matched by Iona's Damika Martinez in 2013.
- Rider has now advanced to the MAAC Championship Semifinals in each of the last four years.
- The Purple Eagles had won the first three MAAC Championship meetings between the two teams. Today's game was the first between the two teams since 2009.
- Rider is 22-0 this season when three or more Broncs score in double figures.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Stella Johnson's 37 points are her third-most of the year, behind her school-record 41 on Nov. 22 against Lipscomb and her 39 against North Florida a day later at the MAAC/ASUN Challenge.
- Johnson has now scored 30 or more points seven times this season and nine times for her career.
- Johnson made 15-of-27 attempts from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
- Amari Johnson added 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
- Favre finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, hitting 8-of-13 attempts from the floor.
- Mobley had a team-high eight assists and matched Amari Johnson's four steals. She also scored seven points.
- Rider outshot Niagara, 47.1 percent (32-68) to 37.7 percent (23-61) from the floor. Niagara took a 32.0 percent (8-25) to 25.0 percent (3-12) edge from long range. Both teams shot it well from the free-throw line, with Rider (85.7 percent, 12-14) holding the edge in percentage and Niagara (80.0 percent, 20-25) enjoying more opportunities from the charity stripe.
- Rider took a 41-35 edge on the glass.
- The Broncs outscored Niagara, 48-28, in the paint.

UP NEXT
Rider will face the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal game between fourth-seeded Manhattan and fifth-seeded Quinnipiac in the semifinals on Friday at 11 a.m. at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.