BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES
JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University battled back from a 26-point first half deficit and 41-19 halftime hole to within five points with a little under a minute to play, but eventually fell to Richard Stockton College, 79-71, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's basketball game on Saturday night on Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
Stockton (4-13, 1-6 NJAC) wins its first conference game while defeating NJCU (4-13, 1-6 NJAC) for the 15th consecutive meeting since 1998. The Ospreys lead the all-time series, 37-12. NJCU lost its fourth straight game. The game was played as part of Homecoming 2009/Green & Gold Days and the Gothic Knights are now 0-6 on homecoming since it became a winter activity.
RSC freshman center LaTonya Oliver (West Berlin, NJ/Overbrook) poured in a game-high 25 points and registered a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds, while adding six blocks.
NJCU had 56 of its 71 points come from its top three scorers. NJCU was led by freshman guard
EBONY CUNNINGHAM (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus) who contributed her fourth double-double of the year with 20 points (7-17 FG) and 12 rebounds along with four steals in 33 minutes of action.
NJCU freshman guard
LASHAWN OVERTON (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder), a four-time NJAC Rookie of the Week, entered with a league-best 18.2 points per game average in NJAC contests, and exceeded that with 21 points (8-23 FG), six assists and four steals in 36 minutes. Junior guard
CAROLINA GARCIA (Plainfield, NJ/Franklin) dropped in 15 points and four assists while playing in a full 40 minutes for the sixth time this year and the third consecutive game. Junior forward
SHAYLA DANIELS (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) had nine boards and seven points.
While Oliver led RSC, the Ospreys also received 13 points, including three three-pointers, from junior guard Ashley Hart (Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ/Peddie School). Sophomore forward Kristin Sciarrillo (Edison, NJ/Edison) pulled down 10 rebounds along with four points and four assists. The Ospreys received points from 12 of 13 players who saw action.
The Ospreys took control of the court early in the first half, going ahead 10-2 to begin the game. They continued to dominate the Gothic Knights in the first half, limiting them to just 10 points in the first 15 minutes of play. RSC was sparked by 53.1% shooting from the floor in the period, while NJCU only shot 20.6%. The Stockton lead expanded to 23-4 and eventually 41-15, before settling for a 22-point halftime cushion.
The Gothic Knights returned from halftime and began to chip away at the Osprey lead. They utilized their full court press to maximum advantage, causing RSC to turn the ball over 17 times in the second half, and cut the lead to 10 points, 63-53, with 6:06 left.
Stockton regained a 14-point margin and stood ahead 72-60 with 2:22 remaining before NJCU scored eight of the next nine points and cut it to 73-68 with 54 seconds remaining. Overton drained a long jumper off a feed from Garcia to cut it to five before the Ospreys sank four free throws in the last minute to win by eight.
NJCU shot 50.0 percent from three-point range (4-8) and had 15 fast-break points versus four for Stockton, but RSC had a 33-14 boost in bench scoring and outscored NJCU in the paint, 44-28.
NJCU will return to action Monday, January 26 when its visit John Jay College at 5:00 p.m. for a non-conference game. The Ospreys will also return to action January 26, traveling to Hunter College for a 6:00 p.m. game.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Team Stat Comparison
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NJCU
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STOCKTON
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Score
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71
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79
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Half-Time Score
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19
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41
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Field Goal Percentage
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.352 (25-71)
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.459 (28-61)
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Three-Point Percentage
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.500 (4-8)
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.235 (4-17)
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Free Throw Percentage
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.586 (17-29)
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.704 (19-27)
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Rebounds (O-D-T)
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26-18-44
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17-25-42
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Assists
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13
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17
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Turnovers
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24
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23
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Blocks
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5
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10
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Steals
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16
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9
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Fouls
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18
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22
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Largest Lead
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None
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26
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Points in the Paint
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28
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44
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Points off Turnovers
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24
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32
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Second Change Points
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12
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15
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Fast Break Points
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15
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4
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Bench Points
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14
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33
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