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Rhay Porter looks to find an open teammate
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59
Winner Rider Rider 4-10,2-3 MAAC
51
Canisius Canis 2-11,0-4 MAAC
Winner
Rider Rider
4-10,2-3 MAAC
59
Final
51
Canisius Canis
2-11,0-4 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Rider Rider 12 11 22 14 59
Canisius Canis 9 14 14 14 51

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Basketball’s Fourth-Quarter Comeback Falls Short

After trailing by as much as 13 early in the fourth quarter, Canisius' comeback against Rider fell short Thursday evening at the Koessler Athletic Center in MAAC women's basketball action, 59-51.
 
Senior guard Erika Joseph scored a team-high 15 points while sophomore guard Dani Haskell chipped in with 10 for Canisius. Freshman forward Rhay Porter added a game-high 15 rebounds for the Griffs (2-11, 0-4 MAAC).
 
Lenaejha Evans (17 points), Makayla Firebaugh (13 points) and Jessika Schiffer (11 points) all scored in double figures for the Broncs (4-10, 2-3 MAAC).
 
GAME RECAP
Despite both teams getting off to slow starts offensively, Rider scored nine of its 12 first-quarter points off fast break situations, taking a 12-9 lead over Canisius after the opening 10 minutes of action.
 
The Griffs continued its rim-protecting prowess by blocking three Bronc shots in the opening quarter. Porter and fellow freshman Cheyenne Stubbs and senior forward Kayla Jackson rejected the trio of Rider's shot attempts.
 
Canisius tied the game, 16-16, with 7:10 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Haskell. Following a Lenaejha Evans jumper, the Griffs closed out a 10-2 run by scoring seven unanswered points behind a pair of layups from graduate student forward Ella Väätänen and freshman guard Lydia Gattozzi and a 3-pointer by Joseph, giving the Griffs a 23-18 lead.
 
Rider then ended the final 2:33 of the half on a 5-0 run to tie the game, 23-23, heading into the locker room.
 
Coming out of the locker room, Rider opened the half on a 14-5 run in the first four minutes, giving the visitors a 37-28 lead. The Broncs went 6-for-7 from the field during the run and converted on a pair of 3-point attempts.
 
A pair of free throws by Joseph before four unanswered points by Porter capped a 6-1 run for the Griffs, who cut the deficit to four, 38-34, with 3:22 left in the third quarter. Rider, however, ended the final 2:33 of the quarter on a 7-3 run, giving the Broncs a 45-37 advantage.
 
Rider netted the first five points of the quarter over the opening 46 seconds, giving the Broncs its largest lead of the night, 50-37. Following a Joseph 3-pointer, a pair of made free throws by Evans gave Rider a 52-40 lead with 7:50 left.
 
Canisius then responded with an 11-0 run over six-plus minutes, trimming Rider's lead to just one, 52-51, with 1:32 remaining.
 
Rider then made seven of its 12 free throw attempts in the final minute of the contest while playing strong defense to halt Canisius' trio of 3-point shots off of ball advancements following timeouts.
 
Head Coach Sahar Nusseibeh's Postgame Comments
"Tonight was another tough game. I'm really happy with the fact that we outrebounded Rider. Rebounding was a big focus going into today, so I'm happy to see that we finished with 14 [offensive rebounds] and were plus in rebound margin. We struggled against Rider's zone, which was frustrating at times because I don't think we executed well and they took us out of our attack mentality that we normally have offensively.
 
"We've challenged not only Rhaymi [Rhay Porter] but the rest of the team — especially the post players — [to rebound the ball] but Rhay has met the challenge and we're proud of that. Rhay had 15 rebounds tonight, 10 the other night, and with her athleticism, she probably left five on the table. The biggest thing is her understanding of how capable we believe she is in being an extremely dominant rebounder. Once she owns her athleticism and natural ability and starts to gain more confidence, it's coming every game. She's feeling a little bit more confident and she's going to dominate this league throughout her career on the boards."
 
Game Notes
• Thursday was the 49th all-time meeting between the Broncs and Golden Griffins. With the setback, Canisius now holds a 33-16 record over the Broncs.
• Freshman forward Rhay Porter recorded 10 rebounds in the first half, which is the most by a Griff since Danielle Sanderlin had secured 10 defensive rebounds against St. Bonaventure on Nov. 17, 2019.
• Porter's 15 rebounds are the most by a Canisius first-year player since Maggie Guidry hauled in 16 rebounds against Fairfield on Feb. 17, 1997. The 15 rebounds by Porter are the most by a Golden Griffin since Danielle Sanderlin also recorded 15 against Stetson on Dec. 19, 2019.
• Sophomore guard Dani Haskell extended her streak of games with 10-plus points to 10 games. She is the first Canisius player with a streak of 10-plus points in at least 10 games since D'Jhai Patterson-Ricks' 18-game streak which spanned over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
• Graduate student forward Ella Väätänen extended her block streak to eight games, the program's longest since an eight-game streak by Whitney Ellenor during the 2009-10 season.
• Freshman Cheyenne Stubbs recorded two steals in the loss, her fourth multi-steal performance in her last five games.
 
Up Next
Canisius concludes its five-game homestand Saturday when the Griffs welcome Fairfield to the Koessler Athletic Center. The Stags and Golden Griffins are slated for a 1 p.m. tipoff.
 
For complete coverage of Canisius women's basketball, please follow the Griffs on social media at @GriffsWBB on Instagram and Twitter.
 
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