JERSEY CITY, NJ…The New Jersey City University women's basketball team departs on December 18 for the part of its schedule that most players have been looking forward to since the preseason. For the third time in its history, NJCU will play a regular season tournament in the state of California as the Gothic Knights compete at the 2008 Caltech-Claremont Holiday Classic at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA.
NJCU will meet Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday, December 20 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time in the opening game of the tournament. The Knights will conclude the tournament on December 21 at 12 p.m. against Cal Tech. Both games will be held at Cal Tech's Braun Athletic Center.
“Every couple of years we like to take a nice trip and it's always nice for the girls to experience a new environment,” said fourth-year head coach ASHANTE TIMOLL. “Plus, personally, I hate the cold!”
Timoll added: “I went to California as a freshman here [December 1996]. Every time we go, there are always a handful of kids that have never been on a plane before.”
Freshman guard JANAYA MORRIS (Bronx, NY/FLAGS (NY) is one of several players on the team who will be stepping on an airplane for the first time, as well as making her first trip to California.
“It's my first time on a plane and I am very excited,” Morris said. “I've been looking forward to this and I'm happy to have the chance to get away with my team.”
The Gothic Knights arrive on December 18 for the five-day trip and will primarily concentrate on basketball for the first four days, practicing at Cal Tech before playing on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, December 22, the team will have an opportunity for some tourism before returning to the East Coast on December 23.
“We'll take them to Rodeo Drive so they can see all the stuff they see on TV,” Timoll noted, “and maybe even go to the beach if it's warm enough. Most importantly, it will be a bonding experience. It's the ultimate overnight trip.”
While it's the third trip to California for the women's basketball team, it will mark the fourth trip overall to the state for any NJCU athletics program. In the history of NJCU athletics, the Knights own a 3-3 record in the state.
During the 1979-80 season, the men's basketball team played two games as part of the West Regional in Arcata, CA. On February 29, 1980, NJCU defeated Beloit College (WI), 66-55, before edging host Humboldt State (CA), 74-73, to advance to the Elite 8.
The women's team made their first appearance on the West Coast on December 28-29, 1996, when Timoll was playing for current athletics director ALICE DE FAZIO, then the head coach of the Knights. The two games were played in San Diego, CA, with the Knights falling to host University of California-San Diego and Gustavus Adolphus College (MN). UC-San Diego is now a Division II school.
In its last trip to California in De Fazio's final season as head coach, NJCU defeated Cal Tech, 82-27, on January 4, 2005 in Pasadena, before traveling north to Santa Cruz, CA, where it dropped a 51-38 game to UC-Santa Cruz.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
