SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — MyNeshia McKenzie was determined to make sure she wouldn’t finish her college career without a victory in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament.

With the Rider women trailing 11th-seeded Saint Peter’s at halftime, McKenzie took over.

The senior forward scored 19 of her game-high 25 points in the second half and the sixth-seeded Broncs knocked off the Peacocks, 64-55, Thursday afternoon here at the MassMutual Center.

“This could have been my last college game,” McKenzie said. “That’s how I came into it. I sat up this morning and I’m like, ‘I don’t want this to end.’”

McKenzie’s brilliant career in a Broncs uniform will continue Friday night when the Rider (14-15) faces third-seeded Fairfield (20-9) at 9:30 p.m.


The win was the first for the Broncs in the MAAC tournament since they beat Loyola in the opening round of the 2004-05 tournament.

Rider is just 4-16 all-time since joining the conference in 1997 and has never advanced past the quarterfinals.

“We kind of had a monkey on our back about coming up here to the MAAC tournament and winning a ballgame,” head coach Lynn Milligan said.

It wasn’t easy against last-place Saint Peter’s.

The Peacocks (3-27) took a 31-30 lead into locker room after Aziza May banked in a 3-pointer as time expired on the first 20 minutes.

“It can be a momentum change in the game, but I thought we went into the locker room and were really focused on what we had to do,” Milligan said. “When we stand outside the locker room, I can usually here their mood. Is there tension? Is there not tension? I thought the mood in the locker room was very focused. There wasn’t any, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe that just happened.’”

The second half belonged to McKenzie.

She got to the basket with ease, scoring on layups or getting to the free-throw line. She finished 11 of 15 from the line and grabbed 11 rebounds, giving her 18 double-doubles for the season.

The Broncs trailed 43-40 after May drained a 3-pointer with 14:10 remaining, but scored the next 10 points, taking the lead for good.

McKenzie converted a conventional three-point play with 3:31 left, giving Rider a 10-point lead.

“MyNeshia, in the second half, I thought, was unguardable,” Milligan said.
May was the only Peacock to reach double figures, finishing with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting.

Shereen Lightbourne scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half for Rider. She hit three 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

“This could have been my last game ever,” said Lightbourne, a graduate student who has missed the last two years with knee injuries. “So I just really came with confidence. I didn’t shoot well against Canisius, so I told myself to stay positive and if I’m open, let it fly.”

With a tournament win under its belt, Rider’s next challenge is booking a first ever place in the semifinals.

It can do that by besting Fairfield Friday.

“It’s survive and advance time,” Milligan said. “These guys don’t really care about those first two games.”

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In early action both of the lower seeds advanced.

Ninth-seeded Monmouth knocked off eighth-seeded Niagara, 66-62, and 10th-seeded Siena beat seventh-seeded Manhattan, 87-66.

The Hawks meet top-seeded Iona Friday, while the Saints tangle with second-seeded Marist.