BRONX, NY…Junior point guard
LATRESE McNAIR (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) notched 22 points, nine steals, six assists, six rebounds, and two blocks in 40 minutes and sophomore shooting guard
ELIZABETH AMADEO (Bayonne, NJ/Marist) registered a career-high 14 points, including four three-pointers, as
New Jersey City University ended Lehman College’s six-game winning streak, 64-48, in a non-conference game at the APEX.
NJCU returns to .500 on the season at 9-9 overall, while ending a two-game losing streak. The Gothic Knights are 5-1 against non-conference opponents this season. Lehman falls to 9-11 with its streak coming to an end.
NJCU won despite shooting 30.8 percent from the field (20-65), largely due to drilling eight three-pointers (8-23, .348). It was the most threes converted by NJCU in a game since also hitting eight against The College of New Jersey on February 14, 2004. NJCU owned a 52-35 rebounding margin, including 21-7 on the offensive glass.
McNair, the national leader in steals, flirted with a triple-double, as she shot 5-of-13, and hit 3-of-8 from three-point range, while matching her season high with 22 points, one shy of her career best. She played every second of the game for the fourth time this season, and has missed only six minutes of action over the last seven contests.
![<dfn><a href=]()
ELIZABETH AMADEO" src="/images/wbasket/2006/1/30/11-20-04%20Beth%20Amadeo%2011.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>Amadeo achieved her career high by sinking 4-of-9 three-pointers, and 5-of-12 overall, in 27 minutes off the bench. Freshman center
KELLY WILSON (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson County Prep), who was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week earlier in the day, backed up that award with a career and game-high 12 rebounds (nine defensive), including nine caroms in the second half, while adding four points.
Senior power forward
MEGAN KABBA (Newark, NJ/Arts) added her third double-double of the season—all coming in NJCU victories—with 11 rebounds, 10 points, and five assists. Sophomore center
TIFFANY BOYD (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) and sophomore forward
ARNESE GOODMAN (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) each had six rebounds and four assists.
Four players scored in double figures for the Lightning, led by sophomore forward Tiara Carroll (Bronx, NY/Msgr. Scanlan), who had 11 points, eight rebounds (seven defensive), four assists and four steals in 37 minutes, but shot 2-of-11. Sophomore center Maria Loor (Queens, NY/Newtown) ended with 10 points (5-11) and eight defensive rebounds. Freshman forward Sally Nnamani (New York, NY/Warwick Valley) and junior guard Katherine Santiago (Washington Heights, NY/Norman Thomas) each contributed 10 points, but Nnamani shot 4-of-16 and Santiago committed eight turnovers.
NJCU grabbed a 4-2 lead at 16:03 of the first half on a Boyd bucket and would not trail again, taking a 25-21 cushion into the break, after leading by as many as seven.
After Lehman tied the game at 25-25 at 17:53 of the second half, two Kabba free throws and an Amadeo trey put the Knights ahead 30-25. Lehman closed within one, before another Amadeo three and a three-point play by McNair made it 36-29, and NJCU began to pull away.
Consecutive threes by Amadeo and McNair at 9:29 and 8:51 put NJCU in front by 10, 44-34, and after Lehman closed within four with back-to-back threes, a trey by Goodman extended the lead to 47-40. Two free throws and a layup by Kabba, followed by a McNair free throw made it 52-42 at 4:54. Two freebies by McNair at 2:22 allowed NJCU to continue a 10-point lead, and the Knights maintained a double-digit margin for the remainder of the contest, scoring 10 of the final 12 points. NJCU’s final 16-point margin-of-victory was its largest lead of the game.
Lehman shot 34.0 percent for the game (18-53) and 3-of-12 from three-point range (.250). The Gothic Knight bench outscored the Lehman reserves, 20-4.
NJCU returns to action on Wednesday, February 1 at 6 p.m. in an NJAC game against Richard Stockton College in Pomona, NJ.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
