Broncs split on the road as MAAC tournament hopes dwindle

By Joshua Yuhas

Sitting on the edge of a spot in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament, Rider women’s basketball went back on the road, splitting their games in New York with a 55-53 overtime victory over Canisius University and a 52-56 loss to Niagara University.

Overtime heroics

Canisius opened the game on Feb. 19 with a layup, but junior guard Aliya McIver responded quickly by draining a left wing 3-pointer. 

Both teams went scoreless for nearly two minutes before another set of layups left a 9-9 tie at the final timeout of the opening quarter.

After some interior scoring from the Golden Griffins and a McIver 3-pointer for the Broncs, Rider trailed by one point after the first quarter.

Sophomore guard Emmy Roach drove from the right wing for a layup before another extended scoring drought broke out.

McIver nailed a turnaround jumpshot to break the drought, then a minute later knocked down a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound.

To extend the lead, Roach laid the ball in for an eight-point cushion, until the Golden Griffins splashed a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first half.

Despite only five second-quarter points for Canisius, Rider led by just five, with McIver scoring 13 first-half points.

Scoring remained still for the opening two minutes of the third quarter, until sophomore guard Amany Lopez drove to the paint for the score.

“When my name was called, I did my best to do everything my coaches wanted from me, which was being a spark of energy and doing the simple things to give us momentum,” Lopez said.

Canisius cut the deficit after the layup, but Lopez stole that momentum back by grabbing an offensive rebound to set up another 3-pointer from McIver.

Lopez scored three of Rider’s next five points following that shot, but a 5-0 Canisius run cut the eight-point deficit to three in the final three minutes.

A trio of layups from freshman guard Alena Cofield spread across the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, and a pair of Golden Griffins’ free throws provided limited scoring.

Lopez dropped down a midrange shot to give Rider a 41-32 lead with just three and a half minutes remaining, but Canisius would not give up.

Another 5-0 Golden Griffins run over the next two minutes cut the Broncs’ lead to four points before Lopez grabbed a steal, allowing junior center Kaylan Deveney to hit a 3-pointer.

Mistakes ate at the Broncs in the final minutes through turnovers and missed free throws, biting them in the end when the Golden Griffins grabbed an offensive rebound and tied the game at 45 by the end of regulation.

In the opening three minutes of overtime, Cofield matched the scoring of the Golden Griffins, until a pair of free throws and a layup gave Canisius a late four-point lead.

Through free throws from Cofield and Deveney and a steal from McIver, the Broncs trailed 52-53 with 22 seconds left in the game.

Roach, set at the right elbow, handed off to a curling Cofield, who drove to the left block and kicked it out to Deveney for a wide open 3-pointer to win the game, 55-53.

“We showed a lot of resilience after almost giving the game away in regulation. We made enough plays to win the game and I couldn’t be more proud of our team,” Head Coach Jackie Hartzell said.

Almost had it

Scoring started slow against Niagara on Feb. 21, and after a Cofield 3-pointer and free throws from the Purple Eagles, the game was tied at 3-3 after the first five minutes of play.

A trade of shots from the charity stripe and perimeter left the Purple Eagles leading by four points at the end of the first quarter.

After a Cofield layup, Niagara went on an 11-0 run over the following five minutes, Rider ending the half trailing 25-35.

Early 3-pointers in the second half from graduate student forward Kristina Ekofo and McIver started a surge back for the Broncs, and a pair of finishes at the rim for junior guard Deb Okechukwu cut the deficit to four points.

Both Niagara and Rider failed to score for three minutes, until Cofield dropped a layup in, and by the quarter’s end, the Broncs trailed by just three.

Ekofo launched a 3-pointer that would not fall, allowing the Purple Eagles to put the game away. With the sound of the final buzzer, the Broncs left New York with a 52-56 loss to Niagara.

Sitting at 11th place in the MAAC standings, as of Feb. 23, the fight for a tournament spot continues for the Broncs in their final two matchups of the season. 

The Broncs face Siena University on Feb. 26 in the Alumni Gym and take on Mount Saint Mary’s University on Feb. 28 in Maryland. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.