Women's Basketball
Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 1:00 pm
Rider Broncs (1-5) at Army West Point Black Knights (4-2)
Location: West Point, NY (Christl Arena)
Tip: 1:00 pm
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoArmyWestPoint.com
Twitter: @RiderWBB
 
What You Need To Know
- Saturday afternoon's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
- The Broncs earned their first victory of the season on Wednesday, defeating NJIT, 64-59, behind a career-high 22 points from Lenaejha Evans (Conway, SC/Conway). Evans leads the Broncs at 14.7 points per game this season.
 
- Rider went 0-2 at the Christmas City Classic last weekend. Despite a career-high 26 points from Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) and a career-high 15 points from Jessika Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg [Buffalo]) in the consolation game Sunday, a 14-3 fourth-quarter run by Columbia was enough to give the Lions a 63-60 victory.
 
- Rider and Army have split their eight previous meetings. Neither side has won three straight an any point in the series, but Army will have an opportunity to be the first, having won at West Point in 2015 and in Lawrenceville a season ago. The last Rider win came in 2012 when Caitlin Bopp '13 scored 20 points in a 66-60 victory.
 
- Rider has made five-straight appearances in the MAAC Semi-finals. The Broncs were named MAAC Champions for 2019-20 for the first time in program history.
 
- A year ago, Rider finished 8-18 overall and earned the no. 7 seed in the MAAC Basketball Championship. The Broncs ended the season strong, going 6-4 in their final 10 games. In the MAAC Championship, the Broncs knocked off 10^th-seeded Monmouth 44-41 before upsetting second-seeded Quinnipiac 62-50.
 
- Rider was picked to finish fifth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Broncs return all but one member of last year's team.
 
- Firebaugh, the reigning MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year and Second-Team All-MET guard, earned Preseason Second-Team All-MAAC honors. The sophomore averaged a team-high 11.0 points a season ago along with 4.4 rebounds. Raphaela Toussaint (Kingston, Ontario/Lincoln Prep) was tabbed Preseason Third-Team All-MAAC. A fellow member of the All-Rookie Team a season ago, Toussaint averaged 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 47.6% from the field and 47.8% from three. 
 
- Amanda Mobley (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh) now has 311 career assists, good for 10^th in program history. Next on the list are Becky Hower '05 and Debbie Snyder '94, who each finished with 318.
 
- The Broncs lead the MAAC and rank 54th nationally with an average of 4.5 blocks per game. Toussaint and Anna Ekerstedt (Vargburg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasium [Broward College]) are each averaging at least a block per contest this season. The Broncs combined to turn back six shots on Wednesday against NJIT.
 
- The Broncs were lethal at the free-throw line last time out against NJIT. The Broncs shot 88.5% (23-26) at the charity stripe, including going 11-12 in the fourth quarter. The 23 made free-throws are the most in a game since the team also had 23 in an early season win over Lipscomb in 2019. The last time the Broncs hit more than 23, was the 30 made in 2018 in a MAAC Tournament victory over Fairfield.
 
- In four of the Broncs' first six games this season, Rider has held their opponent to their lowest point total of the season. At the Christmas City Classic last weekend, the Broncs held Lehigh to 69 points and Columbia to 63. Lehigh had scored under 80 just once this season in five games prior to facing Rider, and Columbia was held under 70 just once in their seven prior games.
 
- Army enters Saturday's game on a four game winning streak, but both of the Black Knights' losses this season came against fellow MAAC schools, falling to both Manhattan and Quinnipiac. Trinity Hardy leads a balanced scoring attack featuring four players in double figures. Hardy is averaging 14.8 this season.