New Jersey City University Athletics

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GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete feature, WAKEEMAH SAWYER
GOTHIC KNIGHT INSIGHTS: Post-game interviews with Amy Mulligan, ASHLEY VAZQUEZ, DESEREE JOHNSON

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University sophomore point guard ASHLEY VAZQUEZ (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) drained two fouls shots with 5.8 seconds remaining and rookie center DESEREE JOHNSON (Red Bank, NJ/Monmouth Regional) stole the ensuing inbounds pass as NJCU snapped a 31-game New Jersey Athletic Conference losing streak, stunning Rowan University, 61-60, in an NJAC contest on December 1 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.' It was NJCU's first win at home over Rowan in nearly 23 years.
 
NJCU (2-3, 1-2 NJAC) defeated Rowan (2-4, 0-3 NJAC) for the first time in any venue in six seasons. NJCU's last win over Rowan was a 62-59 result on January 27, 2007 in Glassboro, NJ. The Knights snapped a 17-game home court losing streak to Rowan; their last win in Jersey City in the series was a 49-47 decision on January 13, 1990. NJCU's last NJAC victory against any opponent was February 6, 2010 at Rutgers-Newark (62-57, 1 OT).
 
NJCU also snapped a 21-game conference home court losing streak; its last home NJAC win was a 70-65 triumph over Ramapo College, on February 11, 2009.

NJCU, which led 35-27 at halftime, overcame a Rowan comeback in the second half, thanks largely to its bench. NJCU's reserves contribute 15 of 26 second half points and outscored the Profs, 25-0, on the afternoon. Rowan lost its fourth straight game with the setback.
 
After the win, second-year head coach Amy Mulligan, who enjoyed her first recruiting class this offseason, said:  “This is a huge game for us, especially being so close in our first two NJAC games. We hung tough and kept our heads. I am extremely proud of what this team did today.”
 
“It feels fantastic,” Mulligan continued. “We've been so close in our other games. To see this team fight through and finally get an NJAC win—it's a big uplift for us.”
 
After Rowan gained a five-point lead midway through the second half, NJCU trimmed the deficit to one point on three occasions. After an offensive rebound and layup by Rowan 6-foot-0 sophomore center Kate Matthews (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) made it a three-point, 60-57 lead with 1:51 remaining, the teams traded misses before rookie guard KIANA BRIGGS (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) converted a layup off a feed from Vazquez with 47 seconds left.
 
Sophomore guard Bria Hill (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City) turned it over but a three by Vazquez was blocked on the right arc and after getting her own rebound, senior guard Eyandra Molina (Pleasantville, NJ/Washington Irving (NY)) grabbed a steal and called timeout.
 
On the inbounds pass, Molina was caught in the corner and whistled for an offensive foul—her fifth foul of the game—and a turnover. A jumper by senior guard/forward DELIA CHERNEZ (Union City, NJ/Union City) was blocked by Hill with 17 seconds left and an offensive rebound and jumper by Briggs missed and caromed off the shot clock.
 
Rowan inbounded the ball but Hill was called for a travel in front of the Gothic Knight bench with 11.5 seconds left and the Knights reclaimed possession. Vazquez drove the lane and was fouled. She entered the game as the No. 2 ranked free throw shooter in the conference (10-11, .909), stepped to the line with 5.8 seconds left, and calmly swished both chances to give the Knights a 61-60 margin—its first lead since the 14:14 mark of the second half.
 
Vazquez, on her game-winning free throws, said: “Everyday our coaches heckle us on the free throw line during practice and it helped me a lot today. As a sophomore, it felt great to make those shots. I was trying to stay calm during it.”
 
On the ensuing inbounds, Johnson stepped in front of a pass from senior forward Erin Farrell (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) and was fouled with 2.8 seconds left. Although she missed both foul shots, Rowan had no time to get off a quality shot, and its three-quarter court desperation heave fell 20 feet shy of the rim.
 
“Basically, I knew she kept cutting in front of me and I was shocked that I got it,” Johnson admitted regarding her key defensive stop. “After I got it, I just held on to it.”
 
Vazquez, a first-year Division II transfer, scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game to lead NJCU and pace all scorers, finishing with 19 points (7-19 FG, 3-9 3FG), with her two winning free throws her only attempts of the day. She added three assists and two steals in 33 minutes to overcome seven turnovers.
 
Briggs had scored just 10 points in her first four collegiate games, but came up big for NJCU with a career-high 11 points (5-15 FG) in 27 reserve minutes.
 
Chernez equaled her career high for the third time with a game-high 13 rebounds, while contributing seven points (2-5 FG, 3-3 FT), and three assists in 31 minutes.
 
Also for NJCU, junior forward ALNISA HERNAIZ (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) chipped in nine rebounds (six defensive), five rebounds, two blocks and two steals and Johnson finished with six points (3-5 FG) and four rebounds in 18 minutes. Senior guard GABRIELLE RIVERA (Teaneck, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) collected five points and four assists.
 
For Rowan, Matthews, the NJAC's leading rebounder, equaled a game-high with 13 rebounds and notched 16 points (7-16 FG), to record her conference-leading fifth double-double in six games. Molina had an all-around effort of 17 points (5-16 FG), including 7-of-8 from the line, with seven assists and six steals in 36 minutes before fouling out. She did commit seven turnovers.
 
Also for the Profs, Hill had 16 points (7-15 FG, 2-3 3FG), six rebounds and two blocks in 39 minutes, but also committed seven giveaways. Together, Matthews, Molina and Hill combined to score 49 of Rowan's 60 points and junior guard Alexis Govan (Bridgeton, NJ/Camden City Tech Schools) added nine of the other 11 (1-6 FG, 6-8 FT) with five rebounds.
 
“Delia [Chernez] made a big difference for us,” noted Vazquez. “She came up big for us during the entire game and she doesn't let anybody on our team slack and she energized us during the whole game.”
 
Johnson added “Our bench made a difference for us. We didn't want to give up and they gave us a lot of energy.”
 
In the first half there were three lead changes—all early. NJCU slowly opened up a two-possession lead midway through the period, and saw it swell to eight points with 7:06 to go in the half on a jumper by sophomore guard JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NY/Hudson Catholic). Rowan cut it to three before the Knights pushed the advantage back to eight on a jumper by Vazquez off a Chernez offensive rebound and assist with 3:22 to go. A steal and fast break bucker by Vazquez—NJCU's only fast-break points of the day—made it a 10-point, 35-25 edge, with 45 seconds remaining. NJCU took a 35-27 cushion to the half.
 
Early in the second half, Rowan began chipping away at the NJCU lead and made it a two-point game, 41-39, on a Govan triple with 16:53 on the board before Matthews tied it for the Profs on a fast break (15:11), to make it 43-43. NJCU twice regained a two-point lead before Hill tied it again at 47-47 (13:06) and Molina turned a steal into a fast break bucket at 12:50 for a 49-47 score. A three by Hill at 11:28 gave Rowan its largest lead of the contest, 52-47, and a 7-0 run.
 
NJCU responded with a pair of jumpers by freshman forward JIANA CLARK (Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham) (7:46 and 7:03) to twice make it a one-point differential. Trailing by four with 4:24, Vazquez picked off another steal and eventually buried a three to make it 57-56, leading to NJCU's late comeback.
 
A non-conference contest against Centenary College in Hackettstown, NJ is next on the slate for the Knights on Monday, December 3 at 6 p.m.
 
Mulligan summed up the victory by saying: “It is exciting to get an NJAC win under our belt, especially to get a win like this. We were up by eight at halftime and we had to go back and forth. We missed opportunities to win. ASHLEY VAZQUEZ had a great game for us—two key free throw—and DESEREE JOHNSON gets a nice little steal for us to end the game. We have a lot of young kids on our team and they played great for us. I couldn't be happier today.”   

GAME NOTES:

Rowan leads the all-time series, 39-10. NJCU and Rowan will square off again on January 19, 2013 in Glassboro. NJCU had a 25-11 margin in offensive rebounding, including 12-3 in the second half, to overcome 28.6 percent shooting in the period. Of NJCU's 25 misses in the second half (10-35), the Knights claimed a rebound nearly 50 percent of the time. NJCU entered the day as the top three-point shooting squad in the NJAC (.400) but struggled from long distance at .150 (3-20). NJCU had a +10 (51-41) rebounding margin. NJCU entered the day second in the league (+5.2) in rebounding margin.