Monday, Mar 9, 2020
Team is now top seed in MAAC Championships for first time ever
by Rider Sports Information
Amari Johnson converted off a sideline out-of-bounds pass from Lexi Stover as time expired to give the Rider University women's basketball team a 50-49 win at hOURglass Rival Monmouth on March 7 at the OceanFirst Bank Center.
With the win, the Broncs (25-4, 18-2 MAAC) clinched a share of the MAAC Regular Season Championship and the top seed in the Hercules Tires MAAC Championships for the first time in program history.
"We've been working so hard for this moment, so just to see that go in and just see that we are conference champions and what we've been working for all came true in that one moment," Johnson said. "So it was just a surreal moment."
Rider led for the first 39 minutes and 59.4 seconds, and by as many as 16 points, until the Hawks took their first lead of the game on an Akilah Jennings drive with 0.5 seconds remaining. The Broncs called timeout and advanced the ball to set up the game-winning play.
Stover inbounded from the left of her team's bench and found Johnson cutting to the basket on the far side of the court. The pass hit Johnson in mid-air and the redshirt senior caught and laid it in off the glass in one motion.
Stella Johnson led all scorers with 23 points, while also making a game-high four steals. Amari Johnson was Rider's next-leading scorer with eight points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds, while Lea Favre and Amanda Mobley chipped in with six points apiece.
Rider will face the winner of Tuesday's first-round game between eighth-seeded Niagara and ninth-seeded Saint Peter's on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.