Five straight losses, Rider falls to 1-5
By Benjamin Shinault
For the fifth straight game, Rider women’s basketball has come up short. To open up its season, Rider has had to play five of its first six games on the road, and in each one, the Broncs have fallen short.
Over the course of the five losses, the Broncs have had a scoring average of 54.8 points per game, while they have given up a scoring average of 77.8.
In their latest loss on Nov. 25 to George Mason University, the Broncs lost 72-54.
Patriots pull away, Broncs fall back
The first quarter treated the Broncs well. Rider started out with the lead, stemming from a 3-pointer from junior guard Aliya McIver within the first 30 seconds of the game. Almost five minutes later, the Broncs laced another 3-pointer off the wrist of sophomore guard Emmy Roach.
Roach finished the game with a new career-high in points with 14. Roach also splashed four of her five 3-point attempts.
Leading 6-0 with five minutes left to play in the first quarter, George Mason scored their first points of the game with a 3-pointer to make it 6-3.
A few more field goals were made, but Rider still walked out of the first quarter with the lead, 14-9. The Patriots in the first quarter shot an abysmal 16% from the field. On the other hand, the Broncs did not do much better, as they only made five of their 14 attempts for a field goal percentage of 35%.
Quickly, the Patriots hit the right gear to open the second quarter. George Mason opened up the quarter with a 7-0 run, thanks to hitting both free throw attempts, a 3-pointer off a fastbreak and two straight jumpshots that tied the game at 18-18.
George Mason then continued to step on the gas and got out to a 26-20 lead, which was responded with back-to-back layups down low from graduate student forward Kristina Ekofo to make it 26-24.
The Broncs added a few more points to the score sheet, but so did George Mason, as they closed out the half with the lead 35-26. George Mason shot a much improved 50% from the field in the second quarter alone and cashed in four of their nine 3-point attempts.
In the third quarter, both defenses locked in as the Patriots managed just 16 points, and Rider only could rummage up 13.
George Mason opened up the third quarter strong, going on a 7-0 run to open the quarter to take a strong 42-29 lead. The run was finally halted by McIver, who tipped a ball in, and in the next Rider possession, McIver also sank a 3-pointer.
McIver continued her strong start to the season with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. McIver is currently ranked 15th in the MAAC in scoring, while also being fifth in assists.
Once down by 13 in the third, the Broncs were able to close the gap to six thanks to a 3-pointer from freshman guard Daniya Brown, which was soon responded with a George Mason 3-pointer to put the lead at nine, making the score 51-42 entering the fourth quarter.
The fourth did not treat the Broncs well, as George Mason went on a 9-0 run and Rider could not surmount it in time, as they lost 72-54.
Rider still has one more road game left to play until they can finally return home to Alumni Gym for the first time since their season opener against Lafayette College on Nov. 6. The Broncs final game of the road trip will be against Long Island University at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NEC FrontRow.
