LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University women's basketball team led for the entire second half, defeating Canisius 76-63 Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gym. The Broncs improve to 5-9 on the season and 2-3 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins drop to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in league play.
 
Down 2-0 in the opening quarter, Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) score five-straight points to give Rider the early advantage. Firebaugh and Taylor Langan (Lake Hopatcong, NJ/Jefferson Township[Colgate/Millersville]) combined for all of Rider's points in the opening frame as the Broncs led 13-12 after 10 minutes.
 
Tied 24-24 midway through the second quarter, Rider went on a 7-0 run, capped by back-to-back threes by Kaylan Deveney (Medford, NJ/Life Center Academy) and Firebaugh. Canisius would counter with a 10-2 run to take a 34-33 lead with 2:24 to play in the half, the Golden Griffins final lead of the game. Rider scored four-straight points and would lead at the break 37-36.
 
Leading 44-41 early in the third, the Broncs broke the game open. Deveney got an easy layup on a feed from Jessica Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg), then after a pair of Rider free throws, Langan knocked down a triple. Following a Canisius layup, Firebaugh and Deveney hit back-to-back buckets. Another Bronc free throw capped the run at 12-2 and gave Rider a 56-43 lead. Rider entered the fourth leading 56-47.
 
After a pair of Canisius free throws to open the fourth quarter, Deveney and Schiffer drained back-to-back threes to shut down any thought of a Canisius comeback. The Broncs would eventually get their largest lead of the game at 71-57 when Schiffer drained her third three of the game and the Broncs stayed strong defensively down the stretch to preserve the win.
 
Quotes & Notes
"It was a great team win. I thought it was a great bounce back win from Marist. We didn't feel like we were us. We came back had a great day of prep, and really bought in."
 
"We made shots today. We executed our stuff. We made some nice reads. We got a lot of stuff around the rim today, which was super important. We had 11 steals, which really takes a team out of flow on offense."
 
"A lot of the lessons we learned early in the season, we'll start to reap the benefits of. They were on the foul line a lot in that fourth quarter, but we kept our composure. We didn't allow that to stop our flow on offense."  – Head coach Lynn Milligan
 
"We're getting the hang of our offense and the flow and it just makes it easier to make shots. I don't have to think twice about taking my shot. You could see it, pretty much everyone who got the ball was confident and the team confidence lifts up every individual."  – Graduate Guard Jessika Schiffer
 
"It was nice and refreshing, We try not to sit on losses anyway, but but we knew we had to come back and get into flow yesterday at practice. When we get to the MAAC, it's a grind on your body. You can't take a day off and you have to do something every day. That's going to be really important moving forward."  – Senior Guard Makayla Firebaugh
 
- Rider holds serve in the series that saw both teams win at home last year. Canisius now leads the all-time series 34-19.
- Firebaugh led all scorers with 20, her sixth game in double figures this season. Firebaugh moved into a tie with Iris Beistline for 10^th on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,203 points.
- Schiffer scored a season-high 16 points, her third game with double digits this season.
- Deveney scored a career-high 14 points to reach double digits for the third time this season.
- Langan finished with 11 points for her team-high 12^th game in double figures, but saw her streak of four-straight games with a double-double snapped.
- Rider is now 5-0 this season when leading at the half.
- The 76 points is the highest total by the team this season, surpassing the 67 scored in the win at Lehigh.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot a season-high 55.3% (26-47) from the field, and 50.0% (8-16) from three, and the Golden Griffins shot 35.7% (20-56) from the field and 32.0% (8-25) from three. Rider held Canisius to 25.0% (7-28) shooting, including 9.1% (1-11) from behind the arc in the second half.
- The Broncs had 13 assists on their 26 made baskets, led by four from Firebaugh.
- Canisius won the rebounding battle, 32-28, including a 15-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Langan and Firebaugh each had six rebounds to pace the Broncs.
- Firebaugh tied a career-high with five steals in the win.
 
Up Next
- Rider returns to action Thursday when the Broncs visit Siena for a 7 p.m. tip.