Women's Basketball
Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at 2:00 pm
Rider Broncs (2-5) at Wagner Seahawks (5-1)
Location: Staten Island, NY (Spiro Sports Center)
Tip: 2:00 pm
Live Video: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: WagnerSeahawks.com
Twitter: @RiderWBB
 
What You Need To Know
- Saturday afternoon's game will be broadcast on NEC Front Row.
 
- The Broncs enter Tuesday's matinee on a two-game winning streak. Raphaela Toussaint (Kingston, Ontario/Lincoln Prep) produced double-doubles in both games, earning MAAC Player of the Week honors. In Rider's win over NJIT, she had 17 points and 10 boards. Against Army, the sophomore had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high four assists.
 
 
- When 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 14.1 points per game this season.
 
- Rider leads the all-time series over the Seahawks, 14-8. When the teams met in December of 2019, it snapped a 13-year drought in the series. The Broncs won that game 77-63, to extend its winning streak between the teams to two.
 
- 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.
 
- Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood), 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. Toussaint 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 317 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 32nd nationally with an average of 5.0 blocks per game. Victoria Toomey (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore), 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 eight shots on Saturday against Army.
 
- 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 seven games this season, Rider has held their opponent to their lowest point total of the season. At the Christmas City Classic, 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.
 
- Wagner is 5-1 on the season, winning four-straight after an early-season loss to Saint Peter's. Included in the streak is a 54-50 victory over fellow MAAC school Manhattan. Emilija Krista Grava leads Wagner at 13.3 points per game, leading three players who average double-digits.