Women's Basketball
Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 7:00 pm
Rider Broncs (3-10, 1-3 MAAC) vs. Canisius Golden Griffins (2-10, 0-3 MAAC)
Location: Buffalo, NY (Koessler Athletic Center)
Tip: 7:00 pm
Live Video: ESPN3
Live Stats: GoGriffs.com
Twitter: @RiderWBB
 
What You Need To Know
- Thursday night's game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
- Rider fell to MAAC leaders, Fairfield, 62-44, last time out. Lou Lopez-Senechal had 27 points for the Stags. The Broncs were led by 12 points from Raphaela Toussaint (Kingston, Ontario/Lincoln Prep) and career-high seven boards by Jessika Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg).
 
- The Broncs led by as many as 23 points at Manhattan last Thursday, but ultimately fell, 63-58 to the Jaspers. The Broncs have had a lead in the final two minutes in three of their four MAAC contests this season.
 
- The Broncs led wire-to-wire in their victory at Siena. It's the first time Rider did not trail in a game since a 45-31 victory over Monmouth last season. The Broncs have had at least one wire-to-wire victory in every season since the 2011-12 campaign.
 
- Toussaint produced double-doubles in both of Rider's first two victories, earning MAAC Player of the Week honors on Dec. 6. 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.
 
- The Golden Griffins lead the all-time series 33-15, but Rider has been in control of the series recently, winning six of seven since the start of the 2016-17 season. Canisius was the only MAAC opponent the Broncs did not face last season.
 
- 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. 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.
 
- Lenaejha Evans (Conway, SC/Conway) is leading the Broncs at 14.9 points per game, and tops the squad with 11 double-digit scoring games this season, including a career-high 23 points against Wagner. The senior leads the MAAC and ranks 88th nationally this season, shooting 49.0% from the field.
 
- Amanda Mobley (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh) now has 319 career assists, good for eighth in program history after passing both Becky Hower '05 and Debbie Snyder '94 against Wagner. Next on the list is Rider Hall of Famer Linda Digiuseppantonio '87, who ended her career with 329.
 
- The Broncs lead the MAAC and rank 54th nationally with an average of 4.4 blocks per game. Anna Ekerstedt (Varberg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasieskola [Broward College]) is averaging over a block per contest this season. Ekerstedt had a career high four blocks against Manhattan. Victoria Toomey (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) led the Broncs in blocks in all three of the team's wins this season.
 
- The Broncs were lethal at the free-throw line 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.
 
- Nearly 70% of Schiffer's shots this season (74-110) have come from three-point range. Her six made threes against Quinnipiac are tied for the fifth-most in a game in program history.
 
- The Golden Griffins have struggled to a 2-10 start to the season, and 0-3 beginning to MAAC play. Thursday is Canisius' fourth-straight home game to start the conference schedule. Dani Haskell leads the Canisius offense at 15.7 points per game.