New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete feature, JADE MEDLEY
ALL-TIME GREEN and GOLD DAY RESULTS

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The College of New Jersey shot 52.4 percent in the second half and knocked down nine three-pointers and despite a tightly-played first half, pulled away from New Jersey City University late, prevailing 66-50, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's basketball game on January 12 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.”
 
Second-place TCNJ improves to 10-5 and 6-2 in conference play while NJCU (3-12, 1-7 NJAC) drops its seventh straight. The Lions lead the all-time series, 48-3, and have won the last eight meetings. The matchup was part of the annual 'Green and Gold Day' event at NJCU.
 
NJCU committed easily its lowest turnover total of the season, giving the ball away just 16 times, but TCNJ only coughed it up nine times and did a solid job defensively as the Knights shot 17-of-57 overall (.298) for the game.
 
In defeat, sophomore point guard ASHLEY VAZQUEZ (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) poured in her 10th effort of double digit scoring, finishing with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting in 36 minutes.
 
Junior forward ALNISA HERNAIZ (Irvington, NJ/Irvington), the leading rebounder in the NJAC, reaching double figures in scoring for the eighth time this year and 23^rd time in her career with 10 points (4-10 FG), adding eight rebounds in 33 minutes. Senior forward DELIA CHERNEZ (Union City, NJ/Union City) tallied nine rebounds (six defensive), five points and two steals in 25 reserve minutes.
 
 “We had a stretch where we could not score and today TCNJ shot lights outs on us,” said second-year coach Amy Mulligan. “Today, we showed how tough of a team we are and what we are capable of doing. We are a dangerous team and we just need to continue to work to cut down on our mental lapses.”
 
“Ashley did a great job of distributing the ball and commanding our team,” added Mulligan. “Alnisa gave us a strong post presence today and Delia did a fantastic job on the boards for us.”
 
 TCNJ was led by junior guard Tiffany DeTulio (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) with 15 points, nine rebounds (six defensive), three assists and three steals in 34 minutes, shooting 7-of-8 from the line. Rookie guard Angelica Esposito (Lincroft, NJ/St/ John Vianney) came off the bench to add 11 points (4-6 FG) and three assists while junior center Liz West (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) supplied 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 19 reserve minutes.
 
Also for the Lions, junior guard Kelly Roddy (Belmar, NJ/St. Rose) added nine points and four steals while senior center Candace Vigo (New Brunswick, NJ/New Brunswick Health Science Technology) scored eight points—six in the first half.  Sophomore guard Kylie O'Donnell (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling) dished five assists.

NJCU controlled the pace of the game early on as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first six minutes. Vazquez scored seven of NJCU's nine points during the run. A Hernaiz offensive rebound and putback made it 14-7 but TCNJ fired back and took the lead, 21-20, with 5:03 remaining in the first half when sophomore guard Kelly Coughlin (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) hit a three-pointer. A three by senior guard GABRIELLE RIVERA (Teaneck, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) put NJCU back in front, 23-21 before back-to-back baskets by West helped the Lions build a 27-23 advantage at the half.
 
TCNJ used the long ball to open up a seven-point lead, 36-29, early in the half, including two threes by Roddy, but NJCU hung tough and cut the deficit back to two on a jumper in the lane (39-37) by Vazquez.
 
But TCNJ began to pull away again. Esposito hit a pair of threes to push the lead to eight, 48-40, with 10:28 left, and a Vigo jumper with 7:02 to play made it a double-figure advantage for the visitors. The Knights weren't able to rally from there as the Lions largely iced the game from the line. The final 16-point margin was TCNJ's largest lead of the game.
 
NJCU looks to end its losing skid on Wednesday, January 16 at 5:30 p.m. when it travels to Mahwah, NJ to face Ramapo College in NJAC action.