LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University women's basketball team secured a halftime lead Sunday afternoon, but a pair of second-half runs by the U.S. Naval Academy proved to be too much to overcome for the Broncs, eventually falling 73-59. The win by the Mids snaps a five-game losing streak, improving the Mids to 3-7 on the year, while the Broncs fall to 2-7 on the season.
After the Mids opened the game with a three, Rider scored seven-straight points including a pair of steals that led to fast-break layups by
Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) and
Jessika Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg). After Navy re-took the lead 8-7, Rider closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run thanks to a pair of Schiffer threes that had the Broncs up five after the opening ten minutes.
Raphaela Toussaint (Kingston, Ontario/Lincoln Prep) took over for the Broncs in the second, scoring six points in the quarter as Rider answered the Mids at every opportunity, not allowing Navy to take a lead and going into the break, up 23-22.
The game continued to swing back and forth in the third quarter, featuring seven lead changes in the quarter. The seventh lead change proved to be too much for the Broncs. With Rider leading 38-35, Navy closed out the third on a 10-1 run to take its largest lead of the game to that point.
After Rider opened the fourth with a bucket, Navy put the game away with an 11-0, ramping up the defense allowing just one Rider shot during the run. The Broncs fought through the final buzzer, but would never again be within single digits.
Quotes & Notes
"I thought Navy did a great job and we did not." (on the difference in the second half)
"We wrapped up the non-conference season obviously not the way we wanted to and we've got to, between now and Saturday, become a better basketball team. We've got to make sure that we are putting the things behind us that we need to put behind us, learning from the mistakes we made, and being ready to open up MAAC play."
"I think we tried to execute the game plan. I just don't think at certain times we did a really good job of it. I thought Navy did a good job in the second half of changing up their defenses. I thought that obviously affected us. I know we had too many turnovers in the second half and gave them some easy buckets on their defense. So we have to do a better job."
– Head Coach Lynn Milligan
- Navy has now won all six meetings between the programs.
- Jennifer Coleman finished an assist shy of a triple-double for Navy, finishing with 27 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
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Lenaejha Evans (Conway, SC/Conway) led the Broncs in scoring for the fourth time this year, scoring 18 points.
- In addition to Evans, Firebaugh and Schiffer both finished in double-figures as well, scoring 15 and 11 respectively.
Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 39.6% (21-53) from the field, and just 25.0% (6-24) from three. Navy went 44.4% (28-63) from the field, but Rider held the Mids to 26.3% (5-19) from deep.
- The Broncs had nine assists on their 21 made baskets, led by four from Firebaugh.
- Navy out-rebounded Rider 41-31, including a 16-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
- The Mids had 24 bench points to just four for Rider.
Up Next
- Rider remains home to open MAAC play on Saturday with a game against Quinnipiac at 2 p.m.
