On Saturday, the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team made the trip to Lawrenceville, NJ, and defeated the Rider Broncs 68-56 in an impressive conference win.
Quinnipiac opened the scoring with a layup from senior forward Ella O’Donnell, but Rider swiftly answered the opening bell with a 7-0 run of their own. First-year guard Alena Cofield hit a three to begin the run, and followed her first make up with a two-point midrange.
First-year guard Ella Ryan nailed a three to bring Quinnipiac back within two, with graduate guard Jackie Grisdale hitting a three of her own to put the Bobcats back in front.
“Rider was off to a hot start…I think we really stepped up and met their intensity,” said Ella Ryan postgame. “We trusted each other and took great shots all around.”
Sophomore guard Emmy Roach halted the Bobcat momentum with a two-point jumper, followed by a rebound leading to a second Cofield three-pointer. Cofield was Rider’s early star, besting her season points average in the first five minutes. Junior guard Aliya McIver added her name to the box score with a three ball a few possessions later.
In the meantime, junior forward Anna Foley and junior guard Paige Girardi made a layup and step back two respectively, and evened the score at 15-15 by the end of the first quarter.
Senior guard Sydney Ryan gave the Bobcats the early second-quarter lead with two made free throws following a foul on Rider’s freshman guard Daniya Brown. Girardi extended the lead to five with a three-pointer, but the run was short lived as a Roach layup and Quinnipiac charging foul swung some momentum back in favor of the Broncs.
Quickly, the second quarter became a battle between Rider’s Cofield and Quinnipiac’s Foley. Cofield became the first player to reach double figures with a layup. Foley answered back with baskets on back-to-back possessions for the Bobcats, but Cofield again cancelled her out with a midrange at the other end.
Grisdale continued to get more involved, making her second three-pointer of the first half and extending the lead to a first-half high of eight just seconds before halftime. O’Donnell also showed superb power, racking up rebounds on both ends of the floor.
“I think Ella O’Donnell off the offensive glass really turned a mental tone for us.” said Head Coach Tricia Fabbri postgame. “We were rebounding but giving the ball up. I thought her effort off the glass gave everyone a ‘Ok, we’re going to go get this game’.”
Both teams were well disciplined in the first half. The Bobcats only allowed a single foul shot while Rider conceded only four, with Sydney Ryan shooting all, and making three of them.
Less than a minute into the second half, graduate forward Kristina Ekofo became the first Bronc to visit the charity stripe following a foul by O’Donnell. Ekofo made both shots, but O’Donnell drew a foul of her own, making one of two.
Sydney Ryan and O’Donnell added points on consecutive possessions for the Bobcats, as the back and forth scoring pattern continued well into the third quarter. McIver once again stunted the momentum by draining her second three, but had the favor returned by Grisdale who responded with her third.
Rider quickly saw their advantage in fouls dissipate, committing fouls on three straight possessions. Grisdale made one shot in the Bobcats’ lone visit to the stripe, which was complimented by an O’Donnell hook shot.
Okechukwu returned to the free throw line for the third time in the quarter, making one of two and bringing the Broncs’ team total in foul shots taken in the frame to 12.
Foley began the fourth quarter by giving Quinnipiac their first double-digit lead of the afternoon with a midrange two. O’Donnell and Ella Ryan extended the lead to 13 with foul shots. Now feeling a sense of urgency, Roach hit a three providing Rider with their first made shot of the quarter.
O’Donnell and Okechukwu exchanged baskets, evening out to a ten point Bobcat lead midway through the fourth quarter. O’Donnell’s basket made her the fourth Bobcat to reach double figures in the game. Quinnipiac would finish with five in double figures.
After being held in check for the entirety of the third quarter, Rider’s Cofield returned to the scoreboard with a three-pointer, cutting the lead to nine. Once more, the Bobcats answered with an Ella Ryan three to bring the lead back into double figures.
“We let her get too many good looks,” said coach Fabbri postgame about Cofield. Today they were (super efficient) and ready to see the Bobcats, so we made some defensive adjustments.”
Nonetheless, Rider would not go down without a fight, as an Ekofo three cut the deficit to seven. Even so, Quinnipiac once more answered from deep with a Sydney Ryan three. Girardi made two foul shots in the dying seconds to effectively seal a 68-56 road victory.
“We stunted their momentum. As soon as they started to get it we didn’t give up hope or roll over,” said Ella Ryan regarding the back and forth nature of the game’s scoring. “We toned it down and focussed on ourselves and seeing the action before it happens.”
