New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights, JENNIFER KRYZINSKI

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Freshman forward BRIA SMITH (Bayonne, NJ/St. Dominic Academy) posted her seventh double-double of the season and fourth against a New Jersey Athletic Conference foe, but Ramapo College used an 18-2 first-half run to take control of the game and held off the New Jersey City University women's basketball team, 53-47, in NJAC action on January 22 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
Ramapo (9-8, 6-4 NJAC), sweeps the season series from NJCU (5-12, 2-8 NJAC) for the fourth consecutive year, despite the Gothic Knights owning an incredible 57-31 rebounding advantage, highlighted by a  29-5 differential on the offensive glass.
 
NJCU owned a 17-3 margin in second chance points and a 2:1 differential in the paint, outscoring Ramapo, 24-12. But NJCU shot .273 overall (20-73) and struggled from three-point distance (4-19, .211) while Ramapo converted 4-of-11 long-range chances (.364). The 73 field goal attempts and 57 rebounds are both team season highs.
 
Smith, a four-time New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week and one-time NJAC Player of the Week, had game highs in both points and rebounding, scoring 18 on 9-of-17 shooting in 37 minutes while hauling down 15 rebounds (10 defensive). Individually, she nearly had half as many rebounds as the entire Roadrunner squad, and Smith collected 12 points (6-10 FG) and 11 caroms in the second half alone.
 
Junior point guard ASHLEY VAZQUEZ (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) added 12 points (5-15 FG, 2-6 3FG), seven rebounds and five assists for NJCU. She reached double digits in scoring for 33^rd time in 42 games as a Gothic Knight and 15^th time in 17 games this year.
 
Also in defeat, sophomore guard KIANA BRIGGS (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) collected nine rebounds, six points and four assists. Sophomore forward DESEREE JOHNSON (Red Bank, NJ/Monmouth Regional) and freshman guard JAZZ RANDALL (West Orange, NJ/West Orange), had eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
 
In a well-dispersed scoring effort in which six players had at least six points for the Roadrunners, junior guard Jackie Jerkovich (Secaucus, NJ/Academy of the Holy Angels) paced the visitors with 11 points (4-8 FG, 2-4 3FG) and three assists while senior forward Micaela Moore (Lindenwold, NJ/Lindenwold) added 10 points (3-10 FG) and six rebounds in 24 minutes.
 
RCNJ, which shot 19-of-30 from the foul line—nearly four times as many free throw opportunities as NJCU (3-8)—also received nine points (2-5 FG) from junior guard Kelly Haspel (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) while junior guard Kerrie Kosakowski (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) chipped in seven rebounds and six points including 4-of-4 free throws.
 
Early in the first half, NJCU jumped out to a 13-6 lead on a triple by Johnson with 11:05 remaining in the period but Ramapo stormed back, utilizing an 18-2 run to claim a nine-point, 24-15 advantage.
 
After leading 13-6, NJCU made just one field goal in the final 11 minutes of the first half, shooting 1-of-19 before a buzzer beating shot to end the period. 
 
Meanwhile, Ramapo, which hit all four of its three-pointers in the half, began chipping away at the lead with Moore's fourth straight point cutting it to 13-11. RCNJ tied it at 15-15 with 4:46 to go in the half on a jumper by freshman forward Bintou Berete (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) before Jerkovich knocked down back-to-back threes at 3:42 and 3:01 to give the guests their first lead, 21-15. Senior guard Anna Fucci (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) sank a three at the 1:10 mark to make it a 24-15 cushion. NJCU ended the spurt when the Knights inbounded with 0.4 on the clock and BRIA SMITH quickly released a pass from KIANA BRIGGS as the teams went to the break at 24-17.
 
Ultimately, the 18-2 run proved too much to overcome. The Roadrunners extended the lead to 15 points, 36-21, at the 13:13 mark of the second half on a pair of Kosakowski foul shots. NJCU tried to rally and a three by junior guard JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic) made it a 42-35 deficit with 6:20 to play. But Ramapo quickly pushed the lead back to double figures as Fucci was fouled with the shot clock winding down from three-point distance and sank all three opportunities. A late push by NJCU fell short with RCNJ prevailing by six. Ramapo previously won between the squads on November 23 in Mahwah by two, 43-41.
 
NJCU will seek a rare season sweep of Rowan University on Saturday, January 25 at 2 p.m. when it hosts the Profs at the JMAC. The Knights won the first meeting on December 4 in Glassboro, 76-59.