NEWARK, NJ – The Rider University women's basketball team fell behind early and were unable to recover, falling 70-57 at NJIT Wednesday night. The Broncs fall to 1-2 on the season, while the Highlanders improve to 3-1.
 
After Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) opened the scoring with a bucket, NJIT responded with an 18-3 run the Broncs were unable to recover from. Jamia Blake (Rock Hill, SC/South Pointe[UNC Asheville]) closed out the quarter with back-to-back buckets as NJIT led 20-12 after one.
 
Rider would close to within four as back-to-back layups by Kaylan Deveney (Medford, NJ/Life Center Academy) extended the run to 8-0. Up 27-21, NJIT scored seven-straight points to extend the lead once again to double digits. The Broncs would close out the quarter on a 9-2 run, with five points by Deveney to go to the half down just 36-30.
 
The Broncs would close to within three at 38-35 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Taylor Langan (Lake Hopatcong, NJ/Jefferson Township[Colgate/Millersville]), but NJIT had another run in them, scoring eight-straight points and pulling away to lead 56-41 after three quarters.
 
Rider opened the fourth with a 7-0 run, capped by a Jessika Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg) three. The Highlanders would not allow the Broncs to close any further, extending the lead as large as 70-52, before a 5-0 Rider run produced the final score.
 
Quotes & Notes
- "I thought NJIT did a good job speeding our offense up, I thought we had some open looks but just couldn't come home with a few makes tonight. They turned us over too many times but the biggest issue tonight was our defense we gave up 70 points and thats too many points to give up. When you are on the road and the balls not going in the basket you have to rely on your defense and we were able to tonight"- Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan 
"I think her teammates are putting her (Deveney) a good spot, she's finishing the ball strong underneath. I think she's getting welcome to D1 in a lot of different ways including the physicalness of the game and the pace of the game so once she gets a better grasp on that she's gonna be even better inside"- Rider Head Coach Lynn Milligan
- It's the second-straight win in the series for the Highlanders, but the Broncs still lead the all-time series 5-3.
- Deveney led the Broncs with 13 points, her first career game in double figures.
- Langan added 10 points, her second game with double-digit points this season.
- Blake also finished with 10 points, her high as a Bronc.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 41.2% (21-51) from the field, but just 26.7% (4-15) from three. The Highlanders shot 44.9% (22-49) from the field and were 25.0% (3-12) from three.
- NJIT had a large advantage at the free-throw line, going 23-for-26 at the stripe to 11-for-16 for Rider.
- The Broncs had 12 assists on their 21 made baskets, led by four from Sanaa Redmond (Philadelphia, PA/The Shipley School[Samford]).
- NJIT outrebounded Rider 37-26, with the Highlanders holding a 10-7 advantage in offensive boards. Langan grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Broncs.
 
Up Next
- Rider returns home to take on Boston University Saturday at 2 p.m.