Bethlehem, PA – Despite a career-high tying 26 points from Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) and a career-high 15 points from Jessika Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg [Buffalo]), the Rider University women's basketball team fell 63-60 to Columbia in the consolation game of the Christmas City Classic hosted by Lehigh Sunday afternoon. The Broncs are now 0-5 on the season, while the Lions improved to 6-2.
 
Rider jumped out to an early 8-7 lead with Schiffer and Firebaugh knocking down early
triples before a 6-0 Columbia run put Rider on its heels. Down 17-10, Rider closed out the first on an 8-0 run. Late in the quarter, Amanda Mobley (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh) made a kickout pass to Schiffer, who hit her third three of the quarter to cap the run.
 
Neither team could separate in the second as each team matched every basket of the other. Tied 31-31, Firebaugh was fouled on a three with 33 second remaining and hit two to send Rider to the locker room up 33-31.
 
Rider opened the second half on a 5-0 run, getting a triple by Firebaugh and a turnaround jumper by Anna Ekerstedt (Vargburg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasium[Broward College]) to go up 38-31. The seven-point lead would be Rider's largest of the game. The Broncs continued to lead through the quarter, extending the lead back to three on a Mobley layup just before the third quarter buzzer.
 
After a Firebaugh three opened the fourth, Columbia went on a 14-3 run, capped by a three from Abbey Hsu. Hsu led Columbia with 12 points in the contest. Rider, responded again with a 7-0 run that gave Rider a 58-56 lead on a three by Ekerstedt. After a Schiffer baseline jumper gave Rider a 60-58 lead, Kitty Henderson responded with a three that would provide the game with its 12^th and final lead change. The Broncs got a final chance with 4.2 seconds remaining, but Firebaugh's corner three rimmed out as time expired.
 
Quotes & Notes
"We played a really good team that ended up with three more points than we did. When you have a quick turnaround like this, you have to rely on yourself and what you do. I think we did that today really, really well."
 
"I thought our defensive effort was dialed in on the scouts. We say K-Y-P, know your personnel, and we did that. When you play hard at all five positions, you can fight through some breakdowns and we did that. The last piece to our defense is our rebounding."
 
"We know what [Makayla and Jessika] are capable of, and they're both capable of what they did today. It's a good sign that we were able to find them, and they stepped up and hit open shots. You have to rely on your training, and both of them were able to put yesterday behind them and come out strong today." – Head Coach Lynn Milligan
 
"I knew if I was open to keep taking my shots, and I did that today. We knew that they like to switch, and we could take advantage when a guard was switched on to a post."
 
"We take pride in our defense. Our team goal each game is to hold our opponent under 70 points and both games this weekend we did that. We need to start stringing things together and today is a great example of that. When we strung possessions together, we went up, but we just got tired late." – Sophomore Guard Makayla Firebaugh
 
- Today's game was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
- Firebaugh's 26 tied her career-high, set previously at Monmouth in January.
- For her efforts, Firebaugh was named to the All-Tournament Team.
- Schiffer's 15 points bested her previous career-high of 14 set against Toledo while at the University at Buffalo.
- Rider held Columbia to 63 points, the Lions lowest total of the season.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 39.7% (23-58) from the field, and 45.5% (10-22) from three. The Lions shot 41.3% (26-63) from the field, but just 28.6% (6-21) from deep.
- The Broncs 45.5% from behind the arc is their best percentage of the season. Rider had been under 30.0% in each of its past three games.
- The Broncs had 16 assists on their 23 made baskets, led by five from Mobley.
- Columbia out-rebounded Rider 49-22, including a 23-7 advantage on the offensive glass.
- Rider forced 21 Columbia turnovers, while giving up possession just 13 times.
- Emily Strunk (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) led Rider with a career-high five rebounds in a career-high 17 minutes.
- Ekerstedt had seven points and three blocks in the contest.
- Rider was again done in by transition play, with the Lions holding a 17-2 edge in fast break points.
 
Up Next
- Rider returns home for a midweek game on Wednesday against in-state foe NJIT. Tip is set for 7 p.m.