NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Taylor Langan's (Lake Hopatcong, NJ/Jefferson Township[Colgate/Millersville]) drained a jumper that beat the buzzer, breaking a 43-43 tie and the Rider University women's basketball team defeated Iona Thursday evening in front of a national television audience on ESPNU, 45-43. The Broncs improve to 7-16 on the season and 4-10 in MAAC play, while the Gaels drop to 8-15 overall and 3-11 in league games.
 
After struggling to find an open option with 3.1 seconds remaining, Molly Lynch (Sea Girt, NJ/Rutgers Prep) made the inbounds pass to Langan on the wing. The graduate student dribbled to the free-throw line, where she turned rose up and fired the shot that bounced high off the rim before falling through the net for the game winning points.
 
Early in the game it was Langan and Makayla Firebaugh (Winchester, VA/James Wood) carrying the offensive load, scoring Rider's first eight points and helping the Broncs to a 10-5 advantage. Leading 10-8, later in the quarter Jessika Schiffer (Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg) and Firebaugh hit back-to-back threes and the Broncs would lead 16-11 after the opening 10 minutes.
 
Trailing 22-17 in the second, the Gaels scored five-straight points to tie the game, but the Broncs defense stepped up, holding Iona scoreless over the final four and a half minutes of the half to put Rider up 27-22 at the half.
 
The Broncs continued to hold the Iona offense in check in the third, keeping the Gaels off the board for the first four minutes of the quarter, but could only extend the lead to 31-22. The Gaels fought back into the game with a 9-0 run and Rider led just 33-31 with ten minutes to play.
 
Iona would quickly tie the game early in third, then take the lead 36-35 on a basket with 6:25 remaining. The sides swapped the lead several times throughout the fourth, including a lead change when Mariona Cos-Morales (Matadepera, Spain/IESMatadepera[Casper College]) found Sanaa Redmond (Philadelphia, PA/The Shipley School[Samford]) for a layup with 1:11 remaining that put Rider on top 43-42. Both sides failed to convert on their next possession and Iona took over with 11 seconds remaining. The Gaels missed their first two looks at the basket, but got a pair of offensive rebounds and drew a foul, making one-of-two at the line to tie the game and set up Langan's heroics.
 
Quotes & Notes
"The first half was a good half, the second half, we didn't flow particularly well. Defensively we held strong and at the end of the game we were able to execute. We say all the time, defense has to travel. In order for us to win on the road today, we needed to defend this team for the entire 40 minutes."
 
"I'm confident if we could get her the ball in the right spot, we knew she could get a shot off and make a great play. Her teammates executed the play really well to kind of draw the defense away from her so that she could catch it clean. Everybody's got to do their job on the play and Taylor set herself up for a great look." – Head coach Lynn Milligan
 
"It was a great team win. We deserved it, we worked hard today. It was good D by Iona, but I'm just happy the ball went in." – Graduate Guard Taylor Langan
 
- Rider completes the season sweep of Iona and cuts the Gaels lead in the all-time series to 34-26.
- Langan finished with 12 points, the 19^th time she has reached double figures this season.
- Firebaugh led the Broncs with 15 points, reaching double digits for the 13^th time this season.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 37.5% (18-48) from the field, and 23.1% (3-13) from three, and the Gaels shot just 29.1% (16-55) from the field and 21.1% (4-19) from three.
- The Broncs had 15 assists on their 18 made baskets, led by five from Lynch.
- Iona won the rebounding battle, 35-30, including an 11-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Langan had seven boards to lead Rider.
 
Up Next
- Rider returns to action next Thursday when the Broncs host Saint Peter's at 7 p.m.