ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – The ninth-seeded Rider University women's basketball team saw its season come to an end Tuesday morning at the MAAC Championships, falling 74-58 to eighth-seeded Iona. The Broncs wrap up the season at 9-21, while the Gaels improve to 11-15 and advance to the quarterfinals against Fairfield.
 
The Broncs got off to a strong start, going on a 13-2 run, including back-to-back threes by Jessika Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg[Univ. at Buffalo])  after trailing 5-3 to go up 16-7. Iona countered with an 8-0 run to close out the first with Rider up 16-15.
 
Trailing 21-19 early in the second, Iona went on a 14-2 run that the Broncs would never recover from. Iona carried the 40-28 lead into the half.
 
Raphaela Toussaint (Kingston, Ontario/Lincoln Prep) made a layup midway through the third that cut the Iona lead to just nine, and forced the Gaels to call timeout. Iona came out of the timeout with an 8-0 run that put the game out of reach. Iona lead 55-43 after three.
 
After Victoria Toomey (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) opened the fourth with a layup, Iona went back to slowly building the lead. The Gaels grew the lead to as large as 18 without the use of a run larger than 5-0.
 
Quotes & Notes
 
"Obviously we're disappointed with today's outcome, Iona played a great game."
 
"I thought we were playing well, but every time you looked up we were just breaking even. We were making plays, but not quite finishing. We were just a step short and a second late."
 
"We just didn't do a good enough job of overcoming those challenges this year."  – Head Coach Lynn Milligan
 
"We did get off to a hot start, but when they started to hit, we just fell apart." – Sophomore guard Makayla Firebaugh
 
"They had high pressure on all our shooters, and they did a good job overall."
 
"This year, there was more energy at all our games for sure." – Junior guard Jessika Schiffer
 
- Iona wins their fifth-straight over the Broncs, including a sweep of all three games this season and improves to 32-24 all-time against Rider.
- Amanda Mobley (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh) had a pair of assists giving her 365 career assists, moving her into a tie with Patricka Smith '98 for fifth in program history.
- Schiffer had the second-highest point total of her career with 19 points, three shy of her career high.
- Anna Ekerstedt (Varberg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasieskola[Broward College]) tied a career-high with eight rebounds.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 40.8% (20-49) from the field, and was 50.0% (9-18) from three. Iona was 46.8 % (29-62) from the field, and equaled the Broncs at 50.0% (11-22) from deep.
- The Broncs had 13 assists on their 20 made baskets, led by four from Lenaejha Evans (Conway, SC/Conway).
- In addition to Schiffer's 19, Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) finished in double figures with 13.
- The Gaels out-rebounded Rider 37-27, including a 17-10 edge on the offensive glass.