Weekend of heartbreak: Broncs add two losses

By Kadie DiGiuseppe and Samantha Clark

Despite it being a weekend of love, Rider women’s basketball only got heartbreak in its close losses to the Iona Gaels, 65-60 on Feb. 13, and the Saint Peter’s Peacocks, 55-54 on Feb. 15 during Valentine’s Day weekend, bringing its conference record to 4-11, two games outside of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. 

‘We’ll learn from it’

The Gaels started off the game with a 3-pointer, but freshman forward Winner Bartholomew responded with the Broncs first bucket of the game on an off-balance, double-teamed shot. 

Iona continued to dominate on offense going on a 6-2 run but the quarter ended with a 3-pointer by freshman guard Jocelyn Chavez. The Broncs still trailed 17-11. 

Rider’s defense continued to slip in the second quarter, with six open 3-pointers contributing to the Iona lead. 

A response 3-pointer by senior guard Gabby Turco put the Broncs down by just three, however the Gaels responded with a 9-0 run. 

Bartholomew broke Iona’s streak with a jump shot, and shortly after, freshman guard Camryn Collins forced a steal, turning it into a bucket. The Broncs trailed 41-27 at halftime. 

“The first game we had against Iona… wasn’t the best of us, and we knew that. So we decided to come out this game and bring the best of us out with us,” said Bartholomew.

Early in the second half, Collins got another steal and layup, showing that the Broncs were not giving up.

With both their offense and defense proving much stronger than the first half, Rider tightened the gap and went on an 11-2 run in the first six minutes.

Junior forward Emilee Tahata hit two clutch free throws to tie the game 46-46 at the end of the third.

Turco began the last quarter with a jumper, giving the Broncs their first lead since early in the first quarter.

“When a team throws a punch at us, it’s a matter of getting back up and not letting them keep punching you while you’re down. I thought, in the second half, we showed a lot more fight than we did in the first,” Turco said.

Two successful free throws by Bartholomew widened the gap, however the Gaels quickly responded with a 3-pointer, putting the Broncs down by one.

Leading all scorers with 22 points, Turco hit another jumpshot, giving Rider their last points of the game. 

Although the final quarter continued with back-and-forth lead changes, with a turnover on the last offensive possession, the Broncs fell short 65-60.

“End of game execution is critical in February. But we’ll learn from it, we’ll get better from it,” Head Coach Lynn Milligan said. 

Last-minute loss 

Like all rivalries, the game started back and forth with the Peacocks sneaking out a 12-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. 

Turco finished the quarter with seven points for the Broncs while Collins and Bartholomew combined for the other three. 

Tahata was taken off the court in the quarter for an injury and she did not return to the game. 

Her replacement, freshman guard Emmy Roach added four quick points on the next two offensive sequences. 

Collins added her first triple less than two minutes later but by the end of the half, the Peacocks offense worked its way up to a 30-23 lead. 

With less than four minutes left the Peacocks jumped to a 12 point lead, their largest of the game. Roach, Chavez and McIver finished off the quarter with seven combined points. 

Trailing by seven points, McIver started off a 10-2 run for the Broncs, giving them the lead for the first time since the first quarter. 

A 3-pointer gave the Peacocks the lead back with less than a minute left, but Roach’s layup tied things back up at 51 all. 

This time, an off-balance 3-pointer gave Saint Peter’s the lead back but not before Turco responded with one of her own, tying the game yet again with five seconds left. 

On the last Peacock possession, Turco fouled which sending Saint Peter’s to the line where they obtained the game winning point icing the win at 55-54. 

Turco and Collins both finished with 14 points while Roach finished with her career high 10 points off 5-6 shooting in 22 minutes. The Broncs lost the turnover battle 20-14. 

Rider will travel to Connecticut to face Fairfield on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. and will be back home to face Mount St. Mary’s on Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.