Women's Basketball
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Rider Broncs (1-2, 0-0 MAAC) vs. Bryant Bulldogs (3-0, 0-0 America-East)
Location: Smithfield, RI
Tip: 5:00 pm
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: BryantBulldogs.com
Twitter: @RiderWBB
 
What You Need To Know
- Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
- The Broncs were picked to finish 13^th by the league's coaches in the preseason poll. The Broncs will have to deal with the loss of four starters from last year's team, including the loss of 80.4% of the team's scoring from a season ago.
 
- Last Thursday's game was the first for Rider under new Head Coach Jackie Hartzell. Hartzell comes to Lawrenceville from Arcadia University, where she posted a 54-26 record and was named the MAC Coach of the Year for the 2024-25 season. Prior to her time at Arcadia, Hartzell produced a 185-57 record in eight seasons at University of the Sciences, highlighted by a trip to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 in 2018, after which she was named the HERO Sports Women's Basketball Division II National Coach of the Year. Rider's sixth coach in the Division I Era, the previous five coaches were 2-3 in their debuts with Eldon Price topping Saint Francis 100-55 and Lynn Milligan defeating Monmouth 59-46 for the Broncs' victories. Hartzell added to the win column with the Broncs topping Lafayette, 65-58, to open the season.
 
- Aliya McIver (White Plains, NY/White Plains) did a little bit of everything against FDU, setting then career-highs in points (9), rebounds (11), and assists (8). The sophomore had five points, six rebounds, and five assists in the second half that saw both teams score 31 points. She then had a career game in the season finale last year at Niagara. In her final game as a sophomore, McIver set career highs with 11 points and 12 rebounds for her first career double-double, and Rider's lone double-double of the 2024-25 season. McIver ranked in the top ten in the MAAC in both assists and assist to turnover ratio last season. The now-junior picked up where she left off to start the year, tying her career high with 11 points, to go along with eight rebounds in the season-opening victory. She poured in a new career-high 14 points against Boston College.
 
- Emmy Roach (Littlehampton, Australia/Heathfield) was all over the place in Rider's season opener, tying a then career-high with 10 points, and setting career bests with five steals and three blocks. It was the first time a Rider player had five steals and three blocks in a game since Stella Johnson produced the same statline against NJIT in November of 2018. Against Stonehill, Roach set a new career-high with 11 points.
 
- The Broncs roster is one of the most unique in the country, featuring zero seniors and just one graduate student in transfer Kristina Ekofo (Brussels, Belgium/ Établissement Des Soeurs De Notre Dame[North Dakota State University/Northeastern Oklahoma A&M])), who joins the Broncs following two seasons each at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and North Dakota State University and has impressed thus far in the preseason. Despite the youth movement, the Broncs do have a veteran presence with incoming transfer junior Deb Okechukwu (Washington, DC/Archbishop Carroll[Harcum CC/CCBC Essex]) following a season at both CCBC - Essex and Harcum CC, and returners McIver and Kaylan Deveney (Medford, NJ/Life Center Academy), who have both played over 50 games in Cranberry and Gray. The Broncs also feature one of the most unique schedules in the country, playing three games in four days that are all true road contests and not a part of an MTE, when the Broncs visit Boston College, Stonehill, and Bryant.
 
- Rider's incoming freshman class features a pair of Spaniards in Aina Perez Mesquida (Manacor, Spain/IES CTEIB) and Claudia Lazaro-Carrasco (Madrid, Spain/Ortega y Gasset). Perez Mesquida is projected to be in the starting lineup after winning a gold medal at the Balearic U16 Championships, competing as a member of the Spanish National U17 3x3 Team, and being a part of the 2023-24 Spanish Junior Club Championship Team. Lazaro-Carrasco spent the last three years playing for the Torrelondes Team in the Junior Special Gold Category and was the Player of the Community for Madrid Team in 2021 and 23.
 
- The freshman class is rounded out by a pair of domestic products, Daniya Brown (Fairfax, VA/Bishop O'Connell) and Alena Cofield (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy). Brown, 5-7 guard from Fairfax, VA was a Second-Team All-WCAC selection, who averaged 14 points and four steals as a senior at Bishop O'Connell High School. Cofield was a one-time First-Team SOL and one time Second-Team SOL honoree who earned Division MVP honors as a member of the SOL Division Championship team.
 
- The Broncs got strong debuts from a pair of newcomers in big 6-1 forward Ekofo, who led all scorers with 19 points to go along with nine rebounds in her Rider debut as a graduate student, and short 5-3 guard Cofield, who added 14 points, including going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, and six rebounds in her first collegiate action.
 
- Bryant defeated the Broncs 62-54 in the regular season last year in the only prior meeting on their way to a WNIT berth, falling in the first round to Army. Emilee Tahata and Gabby Turco both scored 16 points for the Broncs in a game that was tied with just over two minutes to play, but the Bulldogs secured the win in the final minutes.
 
- Bryant is off to a 3-0 start, including a 66-56 win over fellow MAAC opponent Marist last time out. The Bulldogs have used a constricting defense, holding opponents to just 48 points per game on 31.2% shooting. Mia Mancini leads four Bulldogs averaging double figures at 13.0 per contest. Nia Scott is averaging a double-double at 12.0 points and 11.3 rebounds.