LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University women's basketball team erased an 11-point fourth quarter deficit, coming from behind to defeat Stonehill, 65-53, Saturday night in Alumni Gym. The Broncs improve to 2-7 on the season, while the Skyhawks fall to 3-7.
 
Both offenses were connecting early with the Broncs earning an early 8-6 lead, but the Skyhawks would hit five threes over the remainder of the opening quarter to build a 21-12 advantage after 10 minutes.
 
Trailing 25-15 early in the second, Rider went on a 9-0 run, including four points from Gabby Turco (Wildwood, NJ/Wildwood Crest [La Salle/Saint Anselm]) and three from Winner Bartholomew (Abuja, Nigeria/Day Secondary School Birgi) to pull within on, entering the half trailing just 27-26.
 
Stonehill fired back out of the halftime break, opening the third quarter on a 9-1 run. A pair of buckets from Emily Tahata (Springfield, Australia/Woodcrest State College[La Salle]) kept the Broncs within striking distance, but the Skyhawks led 43-35 after three.
 
After a Stonehill three extended the lead to 46-35 early in the fourth, Rider made its decisive run. Back-to-back threes by Jocelyn Chavez (Surprise, AZ/Valley Vista) and Camryn Collins (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) were followed by four-straight points by Bartholomew, and finally a Turco jumper capped a 12-0 run that gave Rider its first lead since the opening quarter. Leading 51-50, Rider pulled away with a 10-0 run helping to produce the final score.
 
Quotes & Notes
"We're happy with the win. It's been a minute, so I was happy with the way we won today. We didn't start off the way we wanted to very strong. I thought we regrouped defensively in that second quarter, to kind of get settle things down a little bit. I thought our third quarter was okay, and I thought our fourth quarter was terrific. We went in the fourth quarter down, and there's been some games where we've got knocked down a couple times, but I think today I was really proud of the way we just stood back up"
 
"This team was ready to play today. It is our last home game of 2024 and we were on a mission, and we talked about it for the last week of practice, we talked about leaving 2024 with a home win. That was really important to this team. We practiced that way, and I thought we played that way, and I thought we had a couple just over aggressive mistakes that caught us early. But like I said, I thought we settled down and made some plays." – Head Coach Lynn Milligan
 
"We were all 100% locked in on every single thing that the coaches talk to us about. The little details about every single player on the other team and how we were supposed to guard the offense and how to play our offense. For me, basically, that was just it. I just wanted to win." – Freshman Forward Winner Bartholomew
 
"We played a lot of tight games, and to come up short so many times is very frustrating for all of us, considering we put in so much work. A win isn't going to be handed to us. We need to work for 40 minutes at every game. So just knowing what it takes to win, just laying it all out on the floor so that we can get it done."
 
"Just getting one of those dubs in the win column is like a good weight off our chest going into MAAC play. Coach just talked about it, everybody's zero and zero, so we have to just start fresh. Seeing our score at the end of the game being higher than theirs makes us happy. We want to have that feeling many more times later this season." – Senior Guard Gabby Truco
 
- The Broncs win the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
- Bartholomew set career highs in points (16), rebounds (7), and steals (6). It was the freshman's first-ever double-digit scoring performance.
- Turco led Rider with 18 points to reach double figures for the seventh time this season.
 
Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 50.0% (24-48) from the field, and 20.0% (2-10) from three. The Skyhawks shot 33.3% (20-60) from the field and 25.0% (7-28) from three.
- The Broncs had 11 assists on their 24 made baskets, led by three each from Collins and Chavez.
- Stonehill outrebounded Rider 35-29, including a 14-4 edge in offensive boards. Bartholomew's seven led all players in the contest.
- 10 different Broncs scored in the game.
- In addition to Bartholomew's six steals, Aliya McIver (White Plains, NY/White Plains) added five.
 
Up Next
Rider hits the road for the first game of MAAC play Thursday against Quinnipiac at 11 a.m.