Dec. 29, 2006
Box Score
Staten Island, NY - Sparked by a game-changing 14-0 run early in the second-half the Rider Broncs defeated the Wagner Seahawks 71-59 in the second game of the Wagner Holiday Tournament earlier tonight at the Spiro Sports Center. With the win Rider ends their 14-game losing streak dating back to last year in improving to 1-10 while the Green & White fall to 1-10 with their eighth-straight loss.
Despite the loss, junior Chelsey Bunyer (Shannon, IL / Eastland) turned in a magnificent performance with a season and game-high 22 points, on 9-15 shooting. Freshman John'a Poole (Middle River, MD / Eastern Tech) had 11 points and senior Takesha Dye (Boynton Beach, FL / Daytona Beach CC) pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds and scored nine points while narrowly missing her fifth double-double of the year to round out the top Wagner performers.
Things looked promising early on in the second as Bunyer nailed a 15-foot jumper to give the Seahawks a 39-38 lead with 19:47 to go. However from that point on it would be all Rider as the Broncs scored the next 14 points while holding Wagner scoreless for 8:40 to go up by an insurmountable margin of 53-39. During the deciding run, Wagner missed all seven of their shots and were forced into six turnovers. The Seahawks would not go away though as they twice cut the deficit to nine points, but could get no closer as Rider won going away 71-59.
The Seahawks went cold in the second shooting just 28.0 percent (7-25), including misfiring on all six three-point attempts, on their way to a 38.9 shooting clip (21-54) for the game. The Broncs on the other hand managed to hit 50 percent of their shots in the second stanza (9-18) and knocked in 50.0 percent (24-48) for the game, including a stellar 42.9 percent (6-14) from behind the arc. Wagner was also outrebounded for the 10th time this year 36-30
Both teams came out red-hot in the first half as the Broncs shot 50.0 percent (15-30) and the Seahawks hit at a 48.3 percent-clip (14-29) while knocking down three of their four three-point attempts. It was a back and forth stanza as there were six lead changes, six ties as neither team could build up any more than a six-point lead. With Rider up 31-25 with 7:47 to go in the first half, Poole knocked down a jumper before Bunyer knocked down a jumper of her own. Dye then hit three straight free throws and Poole had a lay-up to cap a 9-0 Wagner run over 2:54 to regain the lead at 34-31 with 4:53 to go. The Broncs would answer with a three-pointer to tie it up on their way to a 38-37 halftime lead.
Janele Henderson led four double-digit scorers for Rider with a career-high 21 points while Ashley Anderson recorded her first career double-double with a career-best matching 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
In the first game, St. Bonaventure defeated Cornell 71-59 as Dana Mitchell dropped in a game-high 22 points to pace four double-digit scorers for the Bonnies.
Tomorrow's consolation game will be at 5 pm when Cornell and Wagner face off. The championship game between Rider and St. Bonaventure will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
