December 12, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAWRENCEVILLE—Sophomore Ashley Anderson (East Orange) scored 11 points, six in overtime, and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to lead Rider to victory over the United States Military Academy Wednesday night. \”Ashley’s role is to come in, shoot and defend and she did that perfectly tonight,\” said head coach Lynn Milligan. \”It was nice to finally be on the upside of one of these close games.\”
\”My role is to rebound,\” said Anderson who has led the Broncs in rebounding four times in 10 games this season. \”I was getting the looks to go back up and they were fouling me and I was able to connect.\” Anderson was a perfect five for five from the free throw line including four for four in overtime.
Trailing 43-42, Rider (4-6) went on a 13-9 run, eight points by junior Danielle Costantino (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), to take a 55-52 lead with 3:15 left in regulation. That was the ninth and final lead change of the game.
Costantino finished with 11 points off the Rider bench, giving Rider leads of 45-44 and 55-52 with three-point field goals leading the Broncs to fifty percent shooting in the second half.
\”I was able to get open, my teammates got me the ball and I just shot it,\” said Costantino. \”It was all the work of my teammates tonight and I’m glad they had that confidence in me. I’ve been going out there and working on my shot and believing that it will go in.\”
\”We’ve been waiting for a game from Danielle like this for a long time,\” said Milligan. \”She works so hard in practice and she was due. She should feel really good about her effort tonight.\”
Down 57-55, Army tied the game with just over a minute remaining on a jumper by Alex McGuire, the eighth and final tie of the game. Rider missed a three-point field goal with 40 seconds left in regulation, forced a steal and missed another three with two seconds left in the second half, sending the game into overtime.
With Rider holding a 63-60 lead, sophomore Amanda Sepulveda (Perth Amboy/Hun School) stole the ball and made two foul shots with 21 seconds left to give Rider a 65-60 lead. Sepulveda finished with a team-high 13 points and five assists.
A three-point field goal by sophomore Tammy Meyers (Willingboro) cut the Army lead to 24-23 with 4:00 left in the first half before the Black Knights out-scored Rider 6-2 to take a 30-25 lead at the half. Meyers finished with 10 points.
28 of Army’s 30 first half points were scored in the paint and the Black Knights held a 46-24 advantage inside the lane. \”We know we are out-sized,\” Milligan said. \”For us to be successful our perimeter defense has to be extraordinary and it was tonight.\” Rider caused 20 turnovers and had nine steals in the game. \”Each rebound was magnified because of the advantage that Army had in the paint,\” Anderson said. \”When you are at a size disadvantage, boxing out is crucial.\”
Army (5-5) led 39-29 before Rider went on an 11-0 run, six points by senior Janele Henderson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin), to take a 40-39 lead with 11:35 left in regulation.
Junior Shaunice Parker (Waldorf, Md./West Lake) scored the first four points of the second half to cut the Army lead to 30-29. Parker finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Rider took a 7-6 lead on a three-point field goal by Sepulveda before Army went on a 10-4 run, four points by Stefanie Stone, to take a 16-11 lead. A 7-2 Rider run tied the score at 18-18 with 7:22 left in the first half, the fourth tie if the game. Stone finished with eight points.
Rider is now 4-3 at home.
The ‘double-double’ was the second for Anderson in her career. \”Ashley gave us great minutes and is sustaining her effort for longer periods of time which is allowing us to play her longer,\” Milligan said. \”That helps us stay in the flow on the offensive end and also keeps a solid rebounder in the game.\”
Army is picked to finish second in the Patriot League, while Rider is picked to finish last in the MAAC. \”We came back and worked hard in practice the past two days,\” Milligan added. \”Army is a strong team and it wasn’t easy coming to practice on Monday after a one-point conference loss the day before to Niagara.\”
With the victory Rider snapped a four-game losing streak, including three in a row at home.
Rider and Army split the previous four meetings, with the Black Knights winning the last two including a 65-54 decision at West Point last season.
For Army, Erin Anthony had 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and guard Cara Enright added 14 points.
Rider’s last overtime game was on February 11, 2005, a 70-68 home loss to Canisius. Rider’s last overtime win was at Niagara on January 26, 2001 by a score of 84-80. Rider’s last home overtime win was against Wagner by a score of 71-66 on February 22, 1996.
Rider travels to Houston, Texas to take on Rice University December 20. \”This win really helps,\” Milligan said. \”We had a four-game home stand and we’ve been playing well at home and we’ve just been coming up short. With losing the two conference games this past weekend by seven points and one point, that was emotionally draining and this win will really pick the team back up.\”
-RU-
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