Dreary road trip, Broncs get swept up north

By Benjamin Shinault

The Broncs’ three-game road trip did not treat them well, as over the course of four days, Rider women’s basketball did not walk away with a win. During those three non conference games, the Broncs surrendered an average of 83 points. With these consecutive losses, Rider is in an early 1-3 hole.

Eagles fly away

Coming off a strong outing against Lafayette in their home opener, the Broncs migrated north to face off against the Boston College Eagles on Nov. 12.

The first quarter for Rider was one to forget, as the team only totaled nine points as Boston College exploded for 31. 

The Eagles got right into it against the Broncs as they laced a 3-pointer about 10 seconds after the tipoff. Sophomore guard Emmy Roach was able to respond a bit later in the first minute of the ballgame with a clean jumpshot, but soon after, the Eagles splashed two more 3-pointers to get out to an 11-2 lead.

Roach got another bucket to go in and freshman guard Aina Perez Mesquida followed with her first make of the game, but Boston College went on a strong run and their lead swelled to 22-6. 

During the course of Boston College’s 31-point performance in the first quarter, they knocked down six of their 10 3-point attempts and cashed in nine of their 17 field goal attempts. 

Meanwhile in the first quarter, the Broncs did not have the same success. Rider went 0-6 from beyond the arc and only made four of their 13 field goal attempts.

The Broncs’ defense stiffened up in the second quarter though, only allowing Boston 18 points, but Rider’s offense struggled again to score. By the end of the first half, the Broncs only totaled 16 points.

Down 49-16 at halftime, Rider’s offense exploded in the third quarter as a new gameplan was rolled out. 

Junior guard Aliya McIver scored seven points in the third quarter while graduate student Kristina Ekofo scored six. McIver and her 14 points set a new career-high in points scored.

“Obviously those two are going to be our go to players,” Head Coach Jackie Hartzell said.

The Broncs closed the gap to 76-40 by the end of the third quarter, but the damage was already done. Boston College went on to add 16 more points in the fourth quarter while Rider could only rummage up 12. 

The final score was 92-52, delivering the Broncs their first loss of the season in a big fashion. The 92 points was the most allowed by Rider since a January 2023 matchup against Siena College.

Massachusetts mashed Rider

Rider stayed overnight in Massachusetts to play another northern school, this time against the Stonehill College Skyhawks on Nov. 13.

However, Rider fell again, 77-55. Unlike the Boston College matchup, the Broncs played well in the first quarter on the defensive side of the basketball, only allowing 12 points and walking out of the first quarter with a narrow 15-12 lead.

In the second quarter, Stonehill flipped the script and went off for 22 points to tie the game at halftime, 34-34.

Coming out of the break, freshman guard Alena Cofield hit a 3-pointer to give the Broncs the lead right back. 28 seconds later, Efoko hit a 3-pointer of her own to give the Broncs a six point lead.

The Broncs held on to the lead until there was four minutes left in the third quarter, but after a 3-pointer from Stonehill, the Skyhawks took the lead and went on a 12-0 run and never looked back.

“We have to limit teams to less points if we wanna give ourselves a chance to win games,” Hartzell said.

Rider came close to bringing the game back to within 10 points in the fourth quarter when they were down 61-52, but Stonehill went on another impressive 13-1 run to close things up, and the Broncs fell, 77-55.

‘I am a little disappointed’

In the final game of their road trip, the Broncs headed south to Rhode Island to take on the Bulldogs of Bryant University on Nov. 15. It was the same for the Broncs, as they lost their third straight game.

For the second time on the road trip, the Broncs began the game down by the end of the first quarter. But, also for the second time, the game was close by halftime as the Broncs only trailed by five, 37-32.

Entering the third quarter, the Bulldogs got off their chain and ran off for seven straight points to extend the lead to 12 points before a free throw shot from graduate student guard Deb Okechukwu.

In the fourth quarter, the Broncs were only able to score eight points while the Bulldogs scored 20 to put the game out of reach. The buzzer sounded and the Broncs lost 81-57.

“Even with the tough losses, our morale is strong. We are staying together, stay motivated, and using each game as fuel to get better,” Cofield said.

With Rider dropping three straight games, the team will quickly turn the page on look toward Nov. 19 when they take on Navy. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.