LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Despite a career-high 32 points from Kristina Ekofo (Brussels, Belgium/ Établissement Des Soeurs De Notre Dame[North Dakota State University/Northeastern Oklahoma A&M]), the Rider University women's basketball team was topped, 70-59, by Mount St. Mary's Thursday night. The Broncs drop to 4-17 on the season, and 2-10 in MAAC play, while the Mountaineers improve to 10-11 on the year, and 6-6 in league play.
 
After the Mount jumped out to a 14-6 lead, the Broncs countered with an 8-0 run, started by a three from Amany Lopez (Springfield, MA/South Shore Christian Academy), followed by a bucket from Ekofo. After a free throw by Aliya McIver (White Plains, NY/White Plains), Kaylan Deveney (Medford, NJ/Life Center Academy) scored to tie the game 14-14 at the end of the opening quarter.
 
The Mountaineers built a 25-19 lead midway through the second, when a basket by Emmy Roach (Littlehampton, Australia/Heathfield) followed by five-straight points from Ekofo gave Rider the lead. The Mountaineers would come back to lead 29-26 at the half.
 
Leading 34-33 in the third, the Mount slowly went to work extending the lead to double digits with an 18-8 extended run and maintained a 52-43 edge entering the fourth.
 
Ekofo continued to score in the fourth, scoring Rider's first five points in the fourth, but the Mount had the answers on the other end, maintaining the double-digit lead throughout most of the fourth quarter.
 
Quotes & Notes
"We were really good offensively, and that's been an area of struggle for us recently, so I think we showed tremendous improvement on the offensive end, but our defense went the other way tonight. They're a really good team, and we had some lapses tonight, and a good team is going to make you pay. Obviously, Kris was a major positive tonight. We were consistent tonight, so now it's just cleaning it up defensively." – Head Coach Jackie Hartzell
 
"We just executed the game plan. I was where I was supposed to be and whenever I was open, I was just taking my shots. [At Rider], my IQ has gotten better, playing with my teammates, and being less selfish as a player." – Graduate Student Forward Kristina Ekofo
 
- The Mount extends its lead in the all-time series to 24-7.
- Ekofo's career-high 32 gave her double digits for the 12^th time this season. Her 32 points are the most by a Broncs since Stella Johnson '20 scored 37 in the MAAC Tournament in 2020 against Niagara.
 
Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 39.0% (23-59) from the field, and 23.8% (5-21) from three. The Mountaineers shot 40.7% (22-54) from the field and 28.6% (4-14) from three.
- The Broncs had 19 assists on their 23 made baskets, led by six from McIver.
- The Mount held a 43-31 advantage on the glass, including a 14-10 edge on the offensive boards. McIver led the Broncs with five rebounds.
 
Up Next
The Broncs are back in action next Thursday, hosting Manhattan at 6 p.m.