Broncs begin MAAC play with a loss
By Kadie DiGiuseppe
Rider women’s basketball hit the road for the last time in 2024, heading to Hamden, Connecticut, on Dec. 19 to take on its first Metro Atlantic Conference opponent: the Quinnipiac Bobcats. The Broncs were defeated 70-62 in another close contest, bringing their season record to 2-8.
The Broncs got off to a 3-0 run on offense to start the game with freshman forward Winner Bartholomew, freshman guard Camryn Collins and senior guard Mariona Cos-Morales tallying up seven points.
Bartholomew added another pair of points shortly before senior guard Gabby Turco made her first 3-pointer of the game and the second for the Broncs during the half.
However, the Bobcats offense was just warming up and scored 15 points to finish off the first quarter and did not allow Rider to score.
To start the second quarter, the Broncs found themselves trailing by 13 but Turco and sophomore center Kaylan Deveney cut down the Bobcats lead to seven.
Freshman guard Jocelyn Chavez and junior forward Emilee Tahata added five more points but it was not enough to compete with the Quinnipiac offense who jumped to a 15 point lead.
Turco and Cos-Morales finished off the first half with their made buckets, bringing the score to 38-28 at halftime.
Bartholomew and Tahata were the only two Broncs to score in the third quarter while the defense allowed the Bobcats to obtain 13 of their own points, resulting in Rider still trailing going into the fourth quarter.
Tahata, Cos-Morales and Turco tried to start a run for Rider at the beginning of the fourth but the Quinnipiac offense responded right back.
With less than five minutes left, Cos-Morales’ free throw brought the Broncs within four points to which the Bobcats responded by drawing a foul of their own.
Bartholomew got another layup for Rider but the end of the affair came down to free throws with the Broncs going 6-8 at the line while the Bobcats added 10 more points, bringing the score to 70-62 at the buzzer.
Head Coach Lynn Milligan said, “On the defensive end, we all wish we could take that one 3-pointer back that was hit at the buzzer. But our goal all day long was to try and make their offense uncomfortable while adding an offensive flow. I thought we did that for a large part of the game but give Quinnipiac credit.”
Bartholomew led the team with 15 points while Turco and Tahata also broke double figures.
“We were able to follow our personnel and things like that were on point today so that shows our growth. We’ll just keep sticking with that process and get better every single day and things will start to change,” said Milligan.
The Broncs will take their holiday break and be back at Alumni Gym on Jan. 2 against Fairfield at 6 p.m.
