Broncs stay winless in December, lose 52-36 to Monmouth

By Kadie DiGiuseppe

Rider women’s basketball traveled to Long Branch, New Jersey, on Dec. 5 looking to get back in the win column after four straight loses. The Broncs were unsuccessful and took a 52-36 defeat to the Monmouth Hawks, scoring less than 40 points for the first time since Dec. 16, 2023. 

The Broncs started the game by trailing after Monmouth converted on a 3-pointer, but junior forward Emilee Tahata gave Rider its first points of the game shortly after. 

Monmouth made another 3-pointer and a layup before senior guard Mariona Cos-Morales made her first layup of the game. 

By the end of the first quarter, the Rider defense could not find a way to stop Monmouth, putting Rider behind by 14. 

The Broncs struck first in the second quarter after freshman guard Winner Bartholomew’s layup fell good. 

However, that did not stop the Hawks offense from building a 20-point lead by the middle of the quarter. 

Cos-Morales, sophomore guard Aliya McIver and junior guard Taylor Blunt tallied up for seven more points to end the first half but Rider still trailed 28-14. 

Coming out of the locker room, the Broncs and the Hawks went back and forth with scoring but Rider cut down the Monmouth lead to nine points with less than two minutes left in the third. 

During the quarter, McIver, Cos-Morales and senior guard Gabby Turco contributed nine points while Blunt’s second 3-pointer extended the Broncs score to 26 going into the fourth quarter. 

“Everyone had their moments. I thought we made a good run, we cut it to seven. I thought Taylor [Blunt] came in the second half and gave us some really good minutes,” said Head Coach Lynn Milligan. 

Bartholomew added two more points to start the last quarter, cutting Monmouth’s lead to seven before the Hawks capitalized on a jumper and a layup, bringing their lead back up to 13. 

Turco, Cos-Morales and Tahata finished off the offensive game for Rider, adding six more points, but it was not enough to best Monmouth. 

Despite its lackluster scoring, Rider defeated Monmouth in the turnover game 17-15 and in steals 7-6. 

“I’m happy with the progression of the turnover problem, and I think 15 is a workable number. … We are headed in the right direction with that and staying focused in our details and our habits of our daily fundamental stuff that we do,” said Milligan. 

However, as a team the Broncs shot only 26.7% from the field. 

“We got a lot more shots at the basket. We just did not make them. It was one of our, probably, worst shooting nights of the year,” said Milligan. 

Turco and Cos-Morales finished the game both with eight points but no Bronc made double figures. 

“We just didn’t quite have that offensive chemistry that we needed to put more points on the board,” said Milligan. 

The Broncs left the Jersey Shore with a 52-36 loss and will look to pick up their first win since Nov. 12 against Fairleigh Dickinson University on Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. in Alumni Gym. 

“We want to win at home. We’ve got two home games and I know that our ladies are excited to get back home. So I think the comforts of our own gym is going to be good for us, to be back in front of our fans and our home crowd. We’ll be ready,” Milligan said.