March 11, 2013
LAWRENCEVILLE – Friday’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game between Rider and Siena was billed as a battle between the teams’ well-rounded and consistent leaders, junior MyNeshia McKenzie and senior Lily Grenci, and while the two battled to a near draw, it was McKenzie who got the last laugh.
In the last meeting between the two, Grenci got the better of the individual match up, posting 24 points and 14 rebounds to McKenzie’s 12 points and eight rebounds, but McKenzie’s Broncs got the all-important victory, beating the Saints on their own floor 73-61.
Friday’s game brought much of the same, as the Rider defeated Siena at home 72-52 to complete their first-ever season sweep of the Saints and bring their record to 15-13 (10-7 in MAAC conference play). This time McKenzie pulled even with Grenci in the match up of star forwards, scoring 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds as Grenci scored 17 points with 14 rebounds.
Rider senior guard Sironda Chambers and sophomore guard Emily Fazzini each scored 14 points to pace the Broncs’ offense and senior center Caitlin Bopp turned in her usual gritty defensive performance with eight points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Dior Brown had a breakout game of sorts with nine points and three steals, including some key late steals, in only 11 minutes of play.
“Dior was fantastic,” said Rider head coach Lynn Milligan. “Our role players are a huge part of our success and Dior has been giving us everything she has in practice everyday and that’s translating over to the games. I’m really happy for her.”
“Our guard play was solid tonight, and obviously, MyNeshia is MyNeshia. She’s the backbone of this team and she’s been putting up solid numbers every night. You can’t go wrong when your leader is playing like that.”
With a 37-27 lead early in the second half, Rider went on a 10-3 run as Fazzini caught fire, hitting three three-pointers for nine points during the run, to push the lead to 47-30 with 12 minutes remaining. The Broncs never looked back.
Two steals by Brown, each leading to a basket at the other end, brought Rider’s lead to 68-43 with 5:50 remaining. They held Siena without a field goal for the final 4:47 of the game.
“The defense keyed our transition game and our offense,” said Milligan. “That’s why rebounding is so critical for this team.”
Rider had 15 total steals in the game; their season high is 16.
“We fouled way too much but defensively, and on the glass, that effort has been key for us all year and it was there again tonight,” said Milligan.
Rider opened the game quickly, leading 12-3 just minutes into the game. Chambers was feeling it early as she hit back-to-back three pointers. McKenzie’s steady attack was also present in the Bronc’s strong first half, as she scored 10 of her 21 and the team held Siena to just one of 16 shooting over the first 10 minutes.
“The biggest change for us has been the team chemistry,” said McKenzie. “We are all buying into the same system and we now have a better understanding of what we are supposed to do and what is expected of us.”
The loss drops Siena to 11-17 (7-10 in MAAC conference play). Grenci managed to reach the 1,000 point plateau for her collegiate career, making her only the 25th player in the school’s history to do so. The Saints will play Canisius at home on Sunday to try to secure the sixth seed in the upcoming MAAC conference championships. Rider is now in sole possession of fourth place.
On deck for the Broncs is a Sunday home game against the MAAC second place team, Iona, who blew them out in their last meeting by 30 points.
“Our seniors and the upperclassmen are a veteran group and they get it,” said Milligan when asked about the team’s upcoming game with Iona. “They knew early in the season that we weren’t doing some of the things that we needed to and they have stepped up and responded. We’ll be ready for Iona.”
