LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - The Rider University women's basketball team was tied with just over two minutes remaining before falling, 62-54 to Bryant Friday evening. The Broncs fall to 1-2 on the season, while the Bulldogs remain undefeated at 4-0.
 
Emilee Tahata (Springfield, Australia/Woodcrest State College[La Salle]) came out of the gate strong, scoring 12 points in the game's first 5:04, helping the Broncs build a 15-10 lead, but Bryant would respond with a 12-0 run and would lead 22-17 after ten minutes.
 
Bryant carried the momentum into the second quarter, starting the period on a 9-2 run and later taking their largest lead of the game at 35-21 before taking a 35-25 lead into the half.
 
Down 37-25 early in the third, the Broncs came back to tie the game with a 13-1 run, getting five points from Gabby Turco (Wildwood, NJ/Wildwood Crest[Saint Anselm/La Salle]) and four from Camryn Collins (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro). The teams would enter the fourth quarter tied 40-40.
 
Both teams traded blows in the fourth with Bryant taking the lead, then Rider coming back to tie the game at 48-48 on a deep three from Turco and again at 50-50 on a step though layup by Tahata. Bryant took over with three-straight baskets, taking advantage of a pair of Rider turnovers to put away the game without Rider even getting a look at the basket.
 
Quotes & Notes
"We're disappointed. That was a pretty good basketball game that we came up on the short end of, and we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times, and just made some mistakes that I know we want back. We got to learn from them. Credit to Bryant, they executed their offense very well in that last minute. We couldn't get the big stop and the score that we needed to get to finish off what we started."
 
"Late game execution. Fourth quarter execution is just vital to winning games. It's something that we work on every single day in practice, and really try to emphasize the importance of what we want to run, how we want to run it at the end of the game. We came up a little bit short in that today where we just didn't execute the way I think we're capable of executing." – Head Coach Lynn Milligan
 
"I've always known [I can shoot from three], but I haven't been able to find myself. Being at Rider, my coaches, my teammates, have been backing me a lot, trying to instill that confidence in me. So just knowing that they trust me enough to shoot those shots makes me more confident to be able to do that."
 
"I don't ever want to lose like that again. I think it just showed us exactly what we need to work on, that late game execution. We just got to hone on that more. And I think it just makes us hungry to be honest." – Junior Forward Emilee Tahata
 
- The Bulldogs win the first-ever meeting between the programs.
- Tahata set a career-high with 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Broncs.
- Turco also added 16 points to reach double figures for the third-straight game to start the season.
- Collins also scored double digits for the third time this year with 12.
 
Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 40.0% (22-55) from the field and an equal 40.0% (6-15) from three. The Bulldogs shot just 42.9% (21-49) shooting from the field and 35.3% (6-17) from three. Bryant was 14-18 from the line while the Broncs were 4-6.
- The Broncs had 11 assists on their 22 made baskets, led by six from Sanaa Redmond (Philadelphia, PA/The Shipley School[Samford]).
- Bryant outrebounded Rider 34-27, with the Bulldogs holding a 10-9 edge in offensive boards.
 
Up Next
Rider hits the road for their longest road trip of the season, beginning Wednesday at La Salle with a 6:30 tip.