Women's Basketball
Saturday, December 17, 2022
Rider Broncs (3-6, 0-0 MAAC) vs. Canisius Golden Griffins (3-6, 0-0 MAAC)
Location: Buffalo, NY (Koessler Athletic Center)
Tip: 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats: GoGriffs.com
Broadcast: ESPN3
Twitter: @RiderWBB
 
 
What You Need To Know
- Saturday afternoon's game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
- Last time out, ToniRenee Blanford (Montclair, NJ/The Patrick School[Union College]) scored a season-high 11 points and added a season-high eight rebounds, but the Broncs fell at Seton Hall, 78-40.
 
- Rider went 1-1 at the MAAC/ASUN Challenge, defeating North Florida 76-67 before falling to Eastern Kentucky 85-64. Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) averaged 21.0 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 55.0% from behind the arc to earn MAAC Player of the Week honors.
 
- Rider was picked to finish tied for sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Broncs return four starters and all but three members of last year's team.
 
- Firebaugh was named Preseason Third-Team All-MAAC. The 2020-21 MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year averaged 11.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season. Her 31 points against Niagara were the most in a single game by any player in the MAAC last season.
 
- Rider is one of just nine teams in Division I without a true freshman on the roster. They just faced one of the other nine teams at the MAAC/ASUN Challenge when the Broncs battled Eastern Kentucky. The remaining seven teams are Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, CSUN, Gonzaga, Green Bay, Norfolk St, and Valpo. The Broncs are one of just five teams that returns 12 or more players from last season's roster, joining Columbia, Western Michigan, Liberty, and Weber State.
 
- Rider has made the MAAC Semifinals in five of the last six seasons. The Broncs were named MAAC Champions for 2019-20 for the first time in program history.
 
- Raphaela Toussaint (Kingston, Ontario/Lincoln Prep) led the Broncs with five double-doubles last season. She earned her first double-double of the season against North Florida with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
 
- Amanda Mobley's (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh) two assists last time out gives her 415 for her career, fourth-most in program history. Next on the list is Stella Johnson '20, who finished with 428.
 
- The Broncs led the MAAC and ranked 42^nd nationally with an average of 4.2 blocks per game last season. Anna Ekerstedt (Varberg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasieskola) averaged 1.50 blocks per contest last season. Even with Ekerstedt sidelined due to injury, Rider blocked nine shots against NJIT.
 
- Nearly two-thirds of Jessika Schiffer's (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg) shots last season (179-277) came from three-point range. 51 of her 76 shots this season have come from deep. Schiffer scored a season-high 19 points against Lehigh.
 
- The Broncs have not lost a game on the Buffalo trip since the 2017-18 season, sweeping the two-game road swing in both 2021-22 and 2019-20. The annual trip did not happen in 2020-21 due to COVID and in 2018-19, the Broncs only defeated Niagara on the trip as Rider did not play at Canisius due to the imbalanced MAAC Schedule at the time.
 
- Canisius leads the all-time series, 33-17, but Rider has now won four straight over the Golden Griffins including both meetings last season. In the Senior Day victory last season, Toussaint led four Broncs in double figures with 18 points to go along with seven rebounds.
 
- The Golden Griffins are 3-6 on the season, but 2-2 in the friendly confines of the Koessler Athletic Center, including a 38-point victory over St. Bonaventure. Dani Haskell is the lone Griff averaging double figures this season at 13.1 per game.