Women's Basketball
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Rider Broncs (2-5, 0-0 MAAC) vs. Yale Bulldogs (2-7, 0-0 IVY)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ
Tip: 2:00 pm
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoBroncs.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.
 
- Rider's season opener was the first for the Broncs 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, tying that mark against Bryant. McIver has played all 40 minutes in each of Rider's last three games, currently leading the nation in minutes played.
 
- 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 stat line against NJIT in November of 2018. Against LIU, Roach set a new career-high with 19 points, fnishing with 13 in the second half as the Broncs turned a two-point deficit into a 15-point victory.
 
- 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 visited 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. Ekofo has scored in double figures in six games this season.
 
- Okechukwu had her best game as a Bronc against Bryant. The transfer junior led the Broncs with a career-high 18 points, tripling her previous career best. She also secured five rebounds in the game, one off her prior high. Okechukwu became the fourth different Bronc to lead the team in scoring in a game this season. Against Navy, she produced Rider's first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
- Rider will take on Yale for the first time ever, as the Bulldogs come to the Broncs Zoo. Yale will be the second team the season the Broncs are playing for the first time after previously traveling to George Mason in November.
 
- The Bulldogs are 2-7 on the season, but did defeat Bryant, 61-48, last time out. Yale is led offensively by Ciniya Moore and her 16.4 points per game. Kiley Kapstraw is third on the team at 11.6 points per game and leads the Bulldogs at 6.4 rebounds per contest.