Rider wins fourth of last five MAAC contests

LAWRENCEVILLE » Junior point guard Lexi Posset scored 24 points and the Rider women’s basketball team held off Niagara, 65-58, Thursday at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Broncs (7-11. 4-3 MAAC) have now won four of their last five conference games.

It was the second outing of 20-plus points this season for Posset, who made 3-of-6 3-pointers and 11-of-12 free throws. Junior Stella Johnson and senior Kamila Hoskova also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Victoria Rampado netted 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field for Niagara, while Jai Moore tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

As a team, Rider held Niagara (7-11, 4-3) to 33 percent shooting from the field, including 1-of-10 from deep. The Broncs shot 94 percent (15-of16) from the foul line.

Rider closed the first half on a 10-2 run, holding Niagara without a field goal for the final 3:27 of the second quarter.

After Niagara cut Rider’s lead to 51-48 with less than seven minutes, Johnson scored back-to-back buckets to give the Broncs a seven-point cushion down the stretch. Johnson came into the game ranking fourth in the MAAC in scoring at 15 points per game.

Rider will next play a pair of road games, first at Marist on Sunday and then at Iona next Thursday.

Niagara, after seeing its three-game win streak end, plays at St. Peter’s on Saturday.