Scoring troubles continue, Rider falls short to Iona
By Benjamin Shinault
For the third time in the month of January, Rider women’s basketball has failed to score at least 50 points. The Broncs are averaging 53.8 points per game, which is 11th in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and are eighth in team field goal percentage. The scoring woes continued into a Jan. 22 matchup against the Iona University Gaels, where the Broncs lost 48-40.
Both teams started out slow, as the first bucket was not scored until there was nearly seven minutes to go in the quarter. Junior guard Deb Okechukwu scored Rider’s first field goal with a layup. Soon after, graduate student forward Kristina Ekofo returned the favor with a layup of her own to put the Broncs up 4-2.
Rider’s paint dominance would continue on when freshman guard Aina Perez Mesquida would navigate down low to get a layup to go in, putting the Broncs up 6-2 with four and a half minutes to go in the first quarter.
The layup from Mesquida would be the Broncs’ last made field goal of the first quarter, as the Gaels would go on a 10-0 run to end the first quarter with a strong 12-6 lead.
The scoring roles in the second quarter swapped as the Broncs would step up defensively and hold the Gaels to only seven points scored, while Rider put up 11 points on the scoreboard.
“We played pretty well on the defensive end,” Rider Head Coach Jackie Hartzell said to Rider Athletics.
Iona opened up the second with a 3-pointer to go up by nine, but then it was followed by three straight layups in the paint and a jumpshot down low to bring the Broncs within five.
Following those easy buckets for the Broncs, sophomore guard Amany Lopez splashed home a 3-pointer to bring the Broncs within two going into the halftime break.
Lopez, coming off a career-high seven points against Manhattan on Jan. 19, snapped her career-high in scoring again with 11 points.
“I’m just letting the game come to me, and not force anything,” Lopez said to Rider Athletics.
With the game neck and neck, both teams stepped on the gas pedal in the third quarter as both teams combined for 33 points, only three points shy of all scoring combined in the first half alone.
Within the first minute of the third quarter, Mesquida tied up the game at 19 with another layup. After a missed 3-pointer from the Gaels, the Broncs snagged the rebound and Ekofo cashed in on the offensive side of the floor with a layup to give the Broncs the lead.
From then on in the third quarter, both teams would go back and forth with the lead. Rider during the third quarter, shot a game high field goal percentage of 42% and cashed in two of its three 3-point attempts. The Gaels, though, struggled shooting from the field, but were able to make all six of their free throw attempts.
By the end of the high-scoring and aggressive third quarter, Iona walked away from the fight with a narrow lead, 36-33 after more free throws.
To open up the final quarter of play, Iona hit a 3-pointer to give itself some breathing room with a six point lead. Junior guard Aliya McIver got the scoring started in the fourth quarter with a free throw.
For more than three minutes, the Broncs went scoreless to allow Iona to build a stronger lead at 42-34 with just over four minutes left. Junior center Kaylan Deveney ended the scoring drought for the Broncs with a 3-pointer.
Lopez would deliver the Broncs three more points coming from the field and the free throw line to make the score 42-40 with three minutes and 38 seconds to go.
After that, Iona would be sent to the line two more times and then would make all four of its attempts to put the game out of reach and the Broncs had to settle with their second straight MAAC loss and their eighth loss in the conference overall to give them a record of 2-8.
The Broncs will throw this loss in the past and will look forward to the Peacocks of Saint Peter’s University as their next foe. Rider will head on the road on Jan. 24 to face off against the Peacocks. The game will tipoff at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
