Feb. 11, 2013
LAWRENCEVILLE – Coming into Thursday’s home match up with Fairfield, the most useful skill Rider junior MyNeshia McKenzie could have hoped to display was a short memory.
In the team’s previous game, a 64-59 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference loss to Niagara last Saturday, McKenzie shot 0 for 9 from the field and was held scoreless for only the fourth time in her collegiate career.
She effectively put the past behind her on Thursday, however, as she scored a team high 18 points and added 5 rebounds to lead Rider to a 55-44 victory over Fairfield.
Senior guard Sironda Chambers added 16 points including the team’s final 7 and senior center Caitlin Bopp lead the team’s defensive-minded second half with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. With the win Rider completed a season sweep of Fairfield and improved their record to 11-11 (6-5 in MAAC conference play).
“Our defense was phenomenal,” said Rider head coach Lynn Milligan. “Caitlin rebounded like crazy in the second half.
“We needed to spark our offense through our defense. At Niagara we felt like our offense was trying to spark our defense and that’s not who we are.”
After struggling defensively on the post at the end of the first half, Bopp came out and asserted herself right away, getting a steal in each of Fairfield’s first two possessions of the second half.
“I felt 120 percent better than I did the last game,” said Bopp, who was forced missed the second half of the team’s loss to Niagara while battling the flu. “In the first half we were really playing individualized. At half time we talked about it, we realized that we had to play more together.”
Rider went on a 19-2 run to turn an eight-point hole into a 48-39 lead with 2:24 remaining in the game. A clutch three pointer and a pair of free throws by Chambers with just over a minute left put them up 53-44 to seal the win.
“I just had confidence in my shot,” said Chambers, who went just 2 for 7 from the field in the first half before finding her mark in the second. “I love hitting big shots like that. I just had to let the first half go.”
Despite taking an early 9-2 lead, Rider trailed Fairfield (13-9) at halftime 21-16.
“We started the game off strong and then we just kind of stalled, so I reminded them ever so gently at halftime that this is not who we are,” Milligan said.
Junior forward Katie Cizynski had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Fairfield.
After sweeping the MAAC’s second place team, Rider has now moved into third place with exactly a month left until the conference championships. A match up with conference rival Iona is up next for the Broncs.
“We have a bad taste in our mouth from the MAAC tournament last year,” said Milligan. “Iona beat us at the buzzer in overtime and if you ask any one of our kids who their rival is in the MAAC, they’ll say Iona because we’ve had great games, overtime, double overtime, close, blowouts; we’ve been on every end of the spectrum with them.”
“The MAAC conference is so good and so talented that if you don’t bring it everyday, you’re going to get beat. If you bring it, you’ve got a chance and that’s kind of where we are. We have to learn from our wins as much as our losses.”
