Rider Picks up First Two MAAC Women's Basketball Wins
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – Quinnipiac University continues to sit atop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women’s basketball standings with an 8-0 record. Marist lands the number two spot sitting at 7-1, followed by Iona at 6-2 in third place. Fairfield sits right outside of the top three at 4-3, while Niagara and Canisius are tied with 4-4 records to round out the fifth spot.
The Rider Broncs secured their first two league wins this past week defeating Niagara and Iona. The Broncs began their week at home versus Niagara on Friday, January 16. Rider was able to hold the Purple Eagles in check to come away with a 61-56 victory. The game marked the first MAAC regular season win for Rider since February 19 of last season. On Sunday at Iona, the Broncs took the Gaels into overtime by forcing a 70-70 tie at the end of regulation. Rider would come out to score 15 points in overtime to overtake the Gaels 85-81.
Quinnipiac was victorious in two MAAC home games this weekend to remain undefeated in league play. Quinnipiac defeated Fairfield 83-43 on Thursday, January 15 before downing Manhattan 85-51 on Sunday, January 18 for their seventh and eighth consecutive league wins. Quinnipiac remains undefeated at home this season with a 9-0 mark and have won six consecutive games.
The Red Foxes won all three of their league contests this week. Marist’s first game of the week on Monday, January 12 featured a road match-up versus Manhattan where the Red Foxes would come away with a 67-45 victory. Marist returned to the court on Friday, January 16 to defeat Canisius 74-64 at home. The three game win streak continued into Sunday’s head to head match-up with Siena on January 18, where the Red Foxes were able to outlast the Saints to a 65-58 win for their fourth consecutive victory.
The Gaels picked up their only win of the week on the road against Siena 79-50 on Friday, January 16. Iona’s second game against Rider on Sunday, January 18 was forced into overtime with the Gaels falling to the Broncs. Both of the Gaels league losses this season have come in overtime games.
The Stags only game last week came against a Quinnipiac team, who in their previous encounter had only defeated Fairfield by one point back on December 7. Fairfield fell 83-43 to the Bobcats on Thursday, January 15.
Closing out the top five at 4-4 are the western New York rivals Niagara and Canisius. Both teams split their games this past week, with their losses coming on Friday, January 16. The Golden Griffins fell to Marist on the road by a score of 74-64 and the Purple Eagles were defeated by Rider 61-56 on the road. Niagara’s win came against Monmouth on the road, a 59-45 victory on Sunday, January 18. Also on Sunday, Canisius defeated Saint Peter’s on the road 57-45 for their fourth league win of the season.
Monmouth finished the week with a 1-1 record, earning their third MAAC win of the season.
The 2014-15 season culminates with the MAAC Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. March 5-9. Tickets can be purchased here.
The MAAC will host the NCAA Women's Basketball Sweet Sixteen Albany Regional at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. March 28 & 30. Tickets can be purchased here.
For the full women’s basketball schedule, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on twitter using #MAACHoops and #MAACHoops15.