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Canisius University Athletics

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Women's basketball senior day photo
Joe Lehrman
62
Rider Rider 9-18,6-12 MAAC
73
Winner Canisius Canis 16-12,11-8 MAAC
Rider Rider
9-18,6-12 MAAC
62
Final
73
Canisius Canis
16-12,11-8 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Rider Rider 20 10 9 23 62
Canisius Canis 20 13 21 19 73

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women's Basketball Emerges Triumphant in Senior Day Victory Over Rider

Graduate student Tihanna Fulton scored a career-high 15 points while sophomore Sisi Eleko notched her second consecutive double-double perfromance with 21 points and 13 rebounds to help propel the Canisius women's basketball team to a 73-62 victory over Rider on Senior Day in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
 
With the win, the Golden Griffins improved to 16-12 overall and 11-8 in conference play. The Broncs fell to 10-16 overall and 5-12 in MAAC action with their second-straight loss.
 
Along with Eleko and Fulton, junior Athina Lexa and senior Mackenzie Amalia supplemented the Griffs scoring with 19 and 11 points, each. Graduate student Grace Heeps and Amalia each dished out a team-high four assists in the winning effort.
 
Taylor Langan led the Broncs with a 20 point, 10 rebound double-double. Molly Lynch dished out four assists for the Broncs in the loss.
 
The Broncs struck first, scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the contest to command a 10-2 lead in the first 3:02 of action. Canisius flipped the script to its favor in the final 4:00 of the first quarter, ending the frame on a 13-2 run to knot the score at 20-20 after 10:00 of play.
 
Canisius took a 33-30 lead into the locker room at halftime after the Griffs scored five of the final seven points before intermission, with Eleko accounting for three of those points for the Blue and Gold.
 
Canisius' defense locked Rider's offense down to in the third quarter, as the Broncs made just 2-of-11 shots from the field. Offensively, Canisius scored 21 points in the third frame after the Blue and Gold hit on 8-of-15 shots from the floor, with four of those made baskets coming from behind the 3-point arc.
 
Canisius stretched its lead to 17 at 56-39 just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter on a basket by Lexa, but Rider pushed back and got within eight points at 58-50 with 6:43 left in regulation time thanks to a 10-3 run. Canisius, however, ended any of Rider's hopes at a comeback with a six-point surge over the game's next 53 seconds, capped by a traditional three-point play by by Eleko with 4:16 remaining that pushed the Griffs' cushion back to a dozen at 64-52.
 
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH SAHAR NUSSEIBEH:   GAME NOTES:
• Canisus is now 35-19 all-time against Rider and 19-7 at home.
• Prior to the contest, the Griffs honors their graduating class of Grace Heeps, Ti Fulton, Bri Rozzi, Jane McCauley and Giana Hernandez-Boulden
• With her 13 rebounds this afternoon, Eleko tied Jenel Stevens for third place all-time for rebounds in a single season with 303.
• Eleko notched her 16th double-double of the season in the win. No other member of the Griffs squad has more than two for their career.
• Lexa has now scored in double-figures in four-consecutive contests
• With the win, the Griffs secured their place in the top-five of the MAAC and guaranteed themselves a first-round bye in the MAAC Championship. It is the first time since the 2018-19 season that Canisius will finish within the top-five of the MAAC. That year, the Griffs finished in fifth.
• The Griffs wore their gold uniforms for the first time since Feb. 3 against Saint Peter's and are now 6-5 when wearing them this season
• Fulton and Hernandez-Boulden each made their first career starts for Canisius in the win. 

UP NEXT:
The Blue and Gold face Battle of the Bridge rival Niagara in their final game of the 2023-24 regular season. Tip-off from Lewiston, N.Y., is set for 2 p.m. on March 9, with the game airing on ESPN+.
 
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