Road struggles continue, Broncs fall to Navy 67-56
By Benjamin Shinault
Rider women’s basketball has been on the road for quite a long time now, as they haven’t played at Alumni Gym since Nov. 6. Also since Nov. 6, Rider has lost four straight games, watching their 1-0 start fall to 1-4. On Nov. 19, the Broncs fell to Navy, 67-56.
‘I was proud’
For its fifth game of the young season, the Broncs had quite the tall task. Rider was set to take on Navy, a team that has brought down the University of Florida and the University of Delaware.
The Broncs and Navy opened up the game with swapping baskets. Graduate student forward Kristina Ekofo got the scoring started for the Broncs with a jumpshot. About halfway through the first quarter, the Broncs got out to a 11-6 lead, following a field goal from junior guard Aliya McIver.
McIver, in the matchup against Navy, was a workhorse. The guard played the full 40 minutes of the game and finished with 13 points, three steals and five assists.
The Broncs lead slowly disappeared after some foul shots for Navy and a 3-pointer put them on top 13-11 with just under two-and-a-half minutes to play in the first quarter.
In those final two-and-a-half minutes of the opening quarter, the Broncs went on a 5-0 run to end the first quarter with the lead, 16-13.
Both teams came out very sluggish in the second quarter, as it wasn’t until four minutes into the second quarter where there was the first field goal made, which was a 3-pointer from Navy that tied the game at 16-16.
Following the 3-pointer from Navy, freshman guard Daniya Brown splashed a 3-pointer off a fastbreak to give the Broncs’ lead back.
With the game now at 19-16, Navy took charge. A few minutes passed with the score at 23-22, and from there, Navy went on a 7-0 run to end the quarter leading.
The second quarter was not kind to the Broncs, as they only were able to score seven points, and the third quarter did not get much better, as the Broncs only scored nine, while Navy threw up 23 on the board to create some space.
“We played really well at times, but the end of the second quarter and third quarter really hurt us,” Head Coach Jackie Hartzell said to Rider Athletics.
The third quarter started with a freshman guard Aina Perez Mesquida layup in the paint to close the gap to four, but it never got that close again.
Navy in the third quarter shot an impressive 56% from the field, while Rider shot 23%. Navy also used 14 players while Hartzell used eight players. For Hartzell, her team just simply ran out of gas too late.
“We have players playing major minutes, and I think we really just run out of gas,” Hartzell said.
Second quarter and third quarter aside, the Broncs played strong, especially in the fourth quarter, as the team scored 24 points. The Broncs shot a much improved 56% and laced four of their nine 3-point attempts.
During the fourth, Rider got the closest to taking the win when they were down nine, 63-54 after a McIver 3-pointer, but the team simply ran out of time.
Rider’s gloomy roadtrip is not over yet as the team will now head to Fairfax, Virginia to take on George Mason University. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and will tipoff at 7 p.m.
