Rider begins season with new look

>> The Rider women’s basketball team is set to take the court on Tuesday night to begin its season with a bit of a new look.

Veteran head coach Lynn Milligan has brought in eight new players with the hope of meshing them together to improve on last season’s 10-21 record and 10th-place finish in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Milligan said after her team won an exhibition game over Division III The College of New Jersey. “I think all the pieces are there, it’s just putting them together.”

Those additions include a mix of transfers and freshmen, but the two who stood out in the exhibition were freshman Kaylan Deveney and junior Mariona CosMorales.

Deveny, a 6-3 center out of Life Center Academy, scored 17 points in 17 minutes and looks the part of a player who could be a dominant MAAC center.

“If you come to practice everyday, you wouldn’t be surprised,” Milligan said. “That’s what she’s capable of. It’s us putting her in a successful situation to make that look as easy as we can for her so she doesn’t have to make a ton of decision because that’s hard to do as a freshman. She’s going to see changing defense and doubling, so we have to put her in the most successful spot.”

Cos-Morales, a 6-1 junior from Spain who arrives after a season at Casper College in Wyoming, scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.

“Her first step is quick to the rim,” Milligan said. “She finishes pretty well around the rim.”

The Broncs will also rely on veterans Makayla Firebaugh and Jessika Schiffer. Firebaugh has started 82 of 86 career games through three years and is coming off a junior campaign in which she averaged a career best 14.3 points and 4.7 rebounds. Schiffer is a graduate student, who averaged 8.3 points last season and is a career 35.3% shooter from 3 in two seasons at Rider.

Firebaugh is the team leader.

“She’s taken the leadership role on by storm,” Milligan said. “She’s really done a good job with that and incorporating eight new people into what we do and how we do things. She’s always going to do a good job with that. We expect big things from here. She’s obviously one of the focal points of our offense.”

One player to keep an eye on who did not play in the exhibition to a minor injury is guard Taylor Langan. She’s a graduate student who began her career at Colgate and then was an All-PSAC East First Team selection last season at Division II Millersville after averaging 15.9 points.