Women's Basketball 2/9/2010 2:53:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Women's Basketball Pulls Away From Rider

Setting a program-record with only six turnovers, making 11 3-pointers and holding a 28-14 rebounding advantage in the second half, the Canisius College women's basketball team defeated Rider University 77-58 in the Koessler Athletic Center on Monday night. The Golden Griffins improve to 10-13 overall and 5-7 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Four Golden Griffins reached double figures – led by 17 points from senior Brittané Russell. Senior Ellie Radke had 15 points and seven rebounds while freshman Ashley Durham, making her first career start, had 10 points, five assists and zero turnovers. Junior Micayla Drysdale had 10 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes while senior Tasia Lee had nine points and eight rebounds.

“I thought it was a great team effort tonight. We've been talking about taking better care of the basketball, and that showed up with only six turnovers,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “At the half, we talked about working hard on the boards and we came out and allowed only three second-chance points in the second half.”

Canisius jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead, which included six points in the first four minutes from freshman Allison Braun. Rider (3-20, 1-11 MAAC) stayed close early by making 5-of-6 3-pointers, with the last triple from Cintella Spotwood putting Rider ahead 21-16.

The Griffs would respond by scoring 19 of the next 21 points to go up 34-25. Radke had seven of the first 11 points during the run, which was capped on back-to-back 3-pointers from Durham and Russell.

Canisius clamped down on the glass in the second half – limiting Rider to four second-half offensive rebounds while picking up 13 offensive rebounds of their own that led to 10 second-chance points. The Broncs cut the Canisius lead to 38-35 on two free throws from Sarah Homan with 17:07 remaining.

The Griffs broke the game open with a 19-6 run, staring with a three-point play from Russell. Freshman Whitney Ellenor followed with four straight points while the trio of Lee, Durham and Drysdale closed the run by each hitting a 3-pointer. Drysdale's second trey of the game gave Canisius a 64-46 lead with less than eight minutes remaining.

Homan had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Spotwood had 13 points and nine rebounds, hitting three 3-pointers in the first-half. Amanda Sepulveda was held to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting – all 3-pointers.

Canisius returns to the road on Saturday, at Fairfield. Game time is set for 1 p.m.

Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 477 games on a 3-pointer by Russell in the first half… Canisius improved to 23-6 all-time against Rider and defeated the Broncs for the 19th time in the last 20 meetings… Canisius sweeps the season series from Rider for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons… The previous record for fewest turnovers in a game was seven, set at Siena, exactly one year ago (Feb. 8, 2009)… Durham reached double figures for the third time this season… Canisius outscored Rider 15-2 in fast-break points and 27-14 in bench points… Canisius made double-digit 3-pointers for the third time on the season.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun: G; 5' 10"; Freshman

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

#22 Ashley Durham: G; 5' 5"; Freshman

#12 Whitney Ellenor: F; 6' 2"; Freshman

#3 Tasia Lee: G; 5' 8"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G

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

#22 Ashley Durham
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: G

#12 Whitney Ellenor
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: F

#3 Tasia Lee
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

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