Rider scored five unanswered points late in the fourth quarter to break at 53-all tie and record a 61-56 victory over Canisius in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women’s basketball action Thursday at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
The Canisius women’s basketball team would fall to Rider, 61-56, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women’s basketball action, Thursday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
The Golden Griffins (6-10, 3-4 MAAC) were led by sophomore forward Lydia Gattozzi, who finished the contest with a season-high 14 points. Graduate student guard Vannessa Garrelts joined Gattozzi in double figures as she chipped in 13 points. Freshman forward Sisi Eleko was the Griffs leading rebounder with seven while fellow freshman Adrien LaMora pulled down a season-high five caroms.
Makayla Firebaugh paced the Broncs (5-11, 2-5 MAAC) with 16 points and seven rebounds while Raphaela Toussaint and Amanda Mobley chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively. Mobley also dished out a game-high nine assists to finish just shy of a double-double.
In a tightly contested game that featured 12 lead changes and six ties, the teams found themselves tied at 53-all with less than two minutes to play before an old-fashioned three-point by by Firebaugh and a pair of free throws from Toussaint on consecutve possessions put the Broncs in front, 58-53, with 28 seconds remaining.
After a Canisius timeout, Garrelts received a pass from sophomore guard Cheyenne Stubbs off the inbound and hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds to play, cutting the deficit to 58-56.
After a free throw from Mobley made it 59-56, the Blue and Gold would fire off a 3-pointer from deep, but it would miss, forcing the Griffs to foul Rider’s Toussaint, who would ice the game with two late free throws to secure the five-point victory.
Earlier in the contest, Rider came out on fire to open the game as it used back-to-back 3-pointers from Firebaugh and Toussaint to ignite an 11-0 surge over the opening 2:22 of the contest to grab an early double-digit lead.
The Broncs would expand their lead to as many at 14 during the opening frame before Canisius came to life, closing the first quarter with a 15-2 run to make it an 18-17 contest. Garrelts keyed the stretch with eight points, while Stubbs added in five tallies of her own and junior guard Dani Haskell accounting for the other two points.
The second quarter was a defensive standstill, with Canisius limiting Rider to just eight tallies while adding 12 of its own to end the half up three, 29-26.
The third quarter saw Canisius and Rider exchange the opening two baskets of the frame before the Broncs kicked off a 9-2 run, starting with a Mobley 3-pointer, over the middle 3:08 of the frame to take a 37-34 lead with 3:08 remaining in the third.
Down 39-36 with less than two minutes to play in the third, LaMora found her groove, hitting back-to-back layups to put Canisius in the lead, 40-39, with 1:02 to play. A late Rider basket by Mobley with 27 seconds to play in the third would give the Broncs a slim 41-40 lead entering the final frame.
Canisius and Rider would be stuck in another near deadlock to start the fourth quarter, with the Griffs slightly outscoring the Broncs, 9-8, over the opening 5:59 of the final stanza. Trailing 51-49 with just over three minutes play, back-to-back baskets by Victoria Toomey and Firebaugh put the home squad in front, 53-51, with 2:10 to play.
The Blue and Gold found an answer a little more than 30 seconds later, thanks to a bucket by Gattozzi, to tie the game, 53-53, with 1:33 remaining, setting the stage for Rider’s game-changing spurt.
Game Notes:
• Garrelts’ 10 points in the first quarter were the most points in a single quarter for her this season.
• Gattozzi also finished the contest with six rebounds, a season high and one shy of her career high total of seven set against Niagara on Jan. 9, 2022.
• Thursday’s game marked the fourth time this season and third in MAAC play that Canisius has limited an opponent to less than 10 points in the second quarter. The Griffs limited the Broncs to just eight points during the frame.
• Canisius was 21-of-64 (.328) from the floor compared to Rider, who shot 21-of-49 (.429) during the contest
Up Next
The Griffs will head to Maryland to face conference newcomer Mount St. Mary’s Saturday. Tip-off from Emmitsburg, Md., is set for 1 p.m. with the game streaming on ESPN+.
