Women's Basketball Starts MAAC Slate with Win

Box Score

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. ? JJ Williams set career highs with 18 points and nine rebounds while Brittan? Russell scored 15 of her career-high 19 points in the last six minutes of the second half as the Canisius College women's basketball team defeated Rider 64-55 on Friday night in Alumni Gymnasium.

Laura Buetow added nine points and eight rebounds to go along with four blocks, which tied a season high. Brianna Lucas had seven points while Mere Mullins pulled down six rebounds.

After Rider opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Griffs scored the next 11 points to open an eight-point lead. Canisius (4-3, 1-0 MAAC) pushed its lead to as many as 15 points on two occasions late in the half. Williams led the Griffs in the half as she had 12 points in the opening 20 minutes. Canisius held Rider to 15.2 percent shooting in the first half on 5-of-33 shooting, which included a stretch where Rider went 1-for-25.

Rider made its run in the second half, getting as close as four at 41-37 with 8:46 remaining on a 3-pointer by Janele Henderson. Russell started her spurt of scoring 15 of Canisius' 17 points at the 5:49 mark with the first of her back-to-back 3-pointers. The Griffs put the game away by making all eight of their free throws in the last minute.

“We came out with a much-better effort tonight after a disappointing game at Wright State. Our team competed hard and got a road league win, which are tough to get,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “JJ gave us production in the paint and Brittan? made some big shots when we needed them.”

Henderson led Rider (3-5, 0-1) with 20 points, as 19 of those came in the second half. Amanda Sepulveda had 16 points while Shauncie Parker had 12 rebounds before fouling out.

Canisius concludes its five-game road trip at Loyola on Sunday. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m.

Game Notes: Canisius extended its streak of games with a made 3-point field goal to 397 on a make by Micayla Drysdale in the first half... Ellie Radke connected on her first career 3-pointer in the first half... Rider didn't make a 2-point field goal until 3:45 remaining in the first half... Williams topped double figures for the second time in her career with her previous career high being 10 at Colgate Nov. 14, 2006. Her previous career high in rebounds was eight at Rider Feb. 11, 2005... Russell bested her career high of 16 points, which came against Montana Dec. 28, 2006... Canisius improves to 9-10 in MAAC openers... Canisius has defeated Rider in the last 15 matchups between the schools.

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Players Mentioned

#53 Laura Buetow: C; 6' 3"; Redshirt

#23 Micayla Drysdale: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

#13 Brianna Lucas: G; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#32 Mere Mullins: F; 5' 11"; Senior

#35 Ellie Radke: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#1 Brittan? Russell: G; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#31 JJ Williams: C; 6' 1"; Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

#53 Laura Buetow
: 6' 3"; Redshirt
: C

#23 Micayla Drysdale
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G

#13 Brianna Lucas
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G

#32 Mere Mullins
: 5' 11"; Senior
: F

#35 Ellie Radke
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

#1 Brittan? Russell
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: G

#31 JJ Williams
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Junior
: C