Women’s College Basketball: Rider University 73, Siena College 61

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. — Senior Sironda Chambers (Wilmington, Del.) finished one off a career-high with 23 points and pulled down five rebounds as the Rider University women’s basketball team won at Siena College 73-61 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Friday evening (Feb. 15).

Rider defeated the Saints for the first time since January 27, 2008.

Leading 48-45, Rider (12-12, 7-6 MAAC) went on a 14-0 run, with five Bronc players hitting the scoring column, led by four points from freshman Mikal Johnson (Manassas, Va./Osbourn) as Rider led 62-45 with 7:47 left in the game.

Johnson finished with seven points, two rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes off the bench.

Siena responded with an 8-0 run before a Chambers layup made the score 64-53 Rider with 4:43 left in the contest.

Trailing 67-57, Siena cut the Rider lead to six but could get no closer as the Broncs made four free throws and a layup down the stretch to clinch the win.

Both teams made a living at the charity stripe with Rider making 24 (of 30) and Siena converting 27 (of 31) foul shots in the game.

This is only the fifth time in 34 tries that Rider has defeated Siena and the Broncs snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Saints.

Trailing 7-6 early in the opening half, Rider went on a 9-0 run, seven points by Chambers as the Broncs took a 15-7 lead with 13:12 left in period one.

Leading 15-9, back to back three-pointers by Johnson and sophomore Kornelija Valiuskyte (Lithuania) put the Broncs ahead 21-9 with 12:08 left in the first half.

Valiuskyte finished with eight points, two rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes off the bench.

Siena (9-15, 5-8 MAAC) responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points, cutting Rider’s lead to 23-17, 9:08 before halftime.

Leading 26-21, Chambers was fouled on a three-pointer and made all three free throws, giving the Broncs an eight-point lead with 5:51 left in the opening period.

After Siena cut the Rider lead to six, freshman Taylor Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) made a three-point play as Rider led 32-23 with 4:23 left before halftime.  Wentzel finished with four points and a rebound in 12 minutes of play.

Rider led 37-31 at intermission.

Rider led by eight at the half before Siena scored the first field goal in the second period, cutting the Bronc lead to six, 39-33, 33 seconds into the second half.

The Broncs responded by scoring five of the next seven points, two points each by senior Caitlin Bopp (Baltimore, Md./Inst. of Notre Dame) and junior MyNeshia McKenzie (Springfield, Pa./Springfield (Delco)) as Rider opened up a 46-35 lead with 16:05 left in the game. 

Bopp finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and three steals with McKenzie adding 12 points, eight rebounds (five offensive) and three steals.

Bopp now had 851 rebounds in her Rider career, passing Bronc Hall of Famer Kelly Eckardt for second place on the all-time rebounding list.

Siena responded with an 8-0 run, getting to within three (46-43) with 14:47 left in the second period.

Rider was out-rebounded 40-39, 20-15 on the offensive glass.

The Broncs shot 41 percent (22-54) and made five three-pointers.  Siena was held to 27 percent (16-59) shooting on the contest.

This is Rider’s 12th win of the season, surpassing its win total from 2011-12 and it is the 50th career win for head coach Lynn Milligan.

The win puts Rider back in a fifth place tie with Canisius at 7-6 in the MAAC with five games left in the regular season.  The seven conference wins ties the second best all-time MAAC record for Rider (2008-09).  The most MAAC wins for the Broncs was 10 in 1999-2000.

This is Rider’s eighth road win of the season after winning five on the road all of last season.

Rider last had 12 wins in a season in 1999-200 when the Broncs went 14-14.

Rider hosts Loyola University Maryland on Sunday as part of an ESPN 3 doubleheader with the Bronc men.  The Rider men host Marist College at 4 p.m. in Alumni Gymnasium.

On Sunday, Rider will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day with a free clinic for kids age 5-18 starting at 10:30a in the Student Recreation Center, adjacent to Alumni Gym.