New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score KINGS POINT, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University women's basketball continues to play well away from Jersey City, picking up its second double-digit road win a week on December 11 as the Gothic Knights jumped out to a 17-4 lead, held a 17-point lead at the half and cruised past the United States Merchant Marine Academy, 56-46, in a non-conference game at O'Hara Hall.
 
NJCU (3-5) defeated USMMA (1-4) for the first time—in a huge turnaround from a 19-point home loss to the Mariners last season. The Knights committed a season-low eight turnovers—including just one in the first half—the fewest giveaways in a game in seven years covering a span of 172 games. The one first-half turnover is a school record for fewest in a period.
 
Four Gothic Knights scored in double figures with two collecting double-doubles, led by three-time New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week and forward BRIA SMITH (Bayonne, NJ/St. Dominic Academy) with 15 rebounds and 11 points. She registered her fourth double-double of the season and sixth effort of double-figure boards.
 
Sophomore forward DESEREE JOHNSON (Red Bank, NJ/Monmouth Regional) delivered her first career double-double—seizing a career-high 12 rebounds while finishing one point shy of a career-best, finishing with 12 points and two steals in 37 minutes.
 
Sophomore shooting guard KIANA BRIGGS (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) continued to score at an elite level, notching 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting with three steals in 31 minutes. She reached double figures for the sixth time this year and scored 10 of 13 points during a key first-half run.
 
Junior guard ASHLEY VAZQUEZ (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) reached double digits in scoring for the 26^th time in 33 games at NJCU, adding 10 points and two assists in a full 40 minutes. Junior shooting guard JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic) contributed seven points, two assists and two blocks.
 
All 56 NJCU points came from its starters as the Mariners reserves outscored the Knights' bench, 12-0. USMMA was led in scoring by Demi VanDerWal with a game-high 17 points (5-18 FG), nine rebounds (all defensive) and three steals to overcome seven turnovers.
 
Alexandra Winfree provided 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench while Rebecca Resor had a team-high 13 rebounds and eight points (3-6 FG).
 
NJCU never trailed and took control of the game in the early stages of the first half, sparked by Briggs who scored 12 in the period on 6-of-8 shooting. Vazquez added eight in the half (3-5 FG) while Johnson made 2-of-4 three-point tries for six points.
 
Tied at 4-4, NJCU unleashed a decisive 13-0 run over a span of 4:50. Briggs scored 10 of the 13, with only a three by Johnson at 16:07 breaking up streaks of four and six straight points by Briggs. NJCU's lead stood at 17-4 just seven minutes into the game and the Mariners never got closer than six the rest of the half.
 
A three by Vazquez, who later added a fast-break bucket, pushed the lead back to 10. The Mariners were held without a field goal for the final 8:15 of the first half, shooting just 24.0 percent in the first 20 minutes (6-25), while NJCU made 13-of-35 (.371), including four triples (4-11, .364). Threes by Johnson and Medley at the 3:21 and 2:43 marks of the period expanded the margin to 16, 31-15, before NJCU went to the half with its largest advantage of the game, a 17-point, 32-15 differential.
 
USMMA outscored NJCU in the second half, 31-24, shooting .423 in the period (11-26) while the Knights made 9-of-33 (.273). The Mariners attempted a rally early in the second half, cutting a 36-23 deficit to five with 10:06 to play—36-31—at the end of an 8-0 spurt.
 
But NJCU responded, scoring 13 of the next 15 points to seal the road win. Baskets by Smith and Briggs followed by a Johnson layup upped the lead back to 11 (42-31) before a three-point play by Medley and layups by Johnson (7:09) and Smith (5:13) made it 49-33. USMMA was held without a field goal during the final three minutes of the streak. NJCU led by double digits nearly the entirety of the remainder of the period.
 
"Tonight our second half pressure allowed us to maintain our lead and win the game," noted third-year head coach Amy Mulligan. "We had big time plays by our team. Ashley [Vazquez] had a great all-around game scoring, distributing the ball and playing great defense. KIANA BRIGGS opened up the game for us on fire and allowed us to get a big lead that we kept. Des Johnson did it on both ends of the floor with a double-double while Bria's second half performance was one of the biggest reasons we won the game. Jade [Medley] came up with a few key defensive plays and her pressure frustrated their guards. This was a tough, strong defensive game for us, which opened up our offensive game."
 
For the first time in school history, NJCU will host an opponent from California in its gym when the Knights welcome University of Redlands for a 6 p.m. non-conference matchup on Wednesday, December 18.