LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – There's something about Rider University's Alumni Gymnasium that Siena Women's Basketball had taken a liking to over the last year. The Saints (7-5, 1-1) took home their first MAAC win of the 2022-23 season with a monster 68-44 victory over the Broncs (3-9, 0-3) Thursday evening, marking the second straight year that Siena held Rider to exactly 44 points at its home gym.
Following a season-long ten-day stretch between games, the Green and Gold collected its fourth win in the last five games and its second victory of 20 or more points this season. Siena edged out an early seven-point advantage in the first quarter, but had to work against a 10-2 Rider run that extended into the second quarter, with the Saints holding a 40-35 advantage at the half.
Working off of the strength of four players in double-figure scoring and a 53-38 rebounding advantage, Siena out-scored the home team, 38-19 in the second half, holding the Broncs to nine points in both the first and final quarters of the game. The team scored the final 14 points of the third quarter, tying the longest single scoring run of the year, and finished the fourth quarter with 15 of the final 24 points.
Sophomore Emina Selimovic and junior Ahniysha Jackson both neared what would have been their first career double-doubles, with Selimovic leading all scorers with a career-best 16 points and nine rebounds and Jackson turning in 13 points and a collegiate-best nine boards. The pair were joined in double figures by sophomore Anajah Brown and freshman London Gamble, with Brown adding eight boards and Gamble's scoring output tying a career-high.
Aside from collecting their largest margin of victory in a game this year, the Saints shot 41 percent from the floor and went 7-16 from beyond-the-arc, with Jackson hitting three triples and sophomore Valencia Fontenelle-Posson turning in a pair. Rider's Makayla Firebaugh was the lone Bronc in double-figures with ten points, and was held to 0-8 from three-point range, with the Broncs shooting just 23 percent from the field as a team.
After securing its 17th win during the 2022 calendar year, Siena will ring in 2023 with a three-game home stand, beginning with a New Year's Day battle against Canisius on Sunday, January 1 at 1 PM inside the UHY Center.
