Sophomore guard Kiana Briggs (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) of the women’s basketball team is the New Jersey City University Athlete of the Week for December 16, 2013. The honor is for the period of December 9-15, 2013. She takes home the honor for the second time in her career, previously collecting the accolade on November 18.
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KIANA BRIGGS
Briggs was instrumental in the Gothic Knights’ 56-46 road victory against the United States Merchant Marine Academy on December 11—NJCU’s second double figure road win in a row—as she continued to score at an elite level, notching 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting with three steals in 31 minutes. She reached double figures for the sixth time this year and scored 10 of 13 points during a key first-half run. She scored in double figures for the ninth time in her career.
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In the win, NJCU never trailed and tied at 4-4, unleashed a decisive 13-0 run over a span of 4:50 to seize a commanding 17-4 margin. Briggs scored 10 of the 13, with streaks of four and six straight points. NJCU led by 17 at halftime, sparked by Briggs who scored 12 in the period on 6-of-8 shooting.
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Later, when Merchant Marine drew within five points in the second half, NJCU pieced together a 13-2 run and Briggs also had a key early basket during that stretch.
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Briggs, a 5-foot-6 Sociology major with a minor in History, is averaging 12.3 points (98), 3.4 rebounds (8-19-27), 3.0 assists (24), 1.5 steals (12) and 0.4 blocks (3) per game while shooting .417 from the field (45-108), .235 from three-point range and .571 from the line (4-7) in 30.8 minutes per contest (246). She has played in all eight games, starting seven times. She leads NJCU in field goal percentage and assists per game and ranks second in scoring and minutes.
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As of December 16 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference statistical rankings, she lists fifth in assists, seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.0), and 27th in scoring.
