New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights, ASHLEY VAZQUEZ

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Defending New Jersey Athletic Conference champion and 11^th ranked Montclair State University limited the Gothic Knights to 19.6 percent shooting and the Red Hawks won their 25th consecutive NJAC regular season game dating to February 2012 in a 60-34 decision over New Jersey City University in NJAC women's basketball on January 8 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
In a matchup of the top two scoring defenses in the conference, Montclair, ranked No. 11 in Division III in both the D3hoops.com and USA Today Sports Top 25 Coaches Polls, overcame its third lowest shooting effort this season and worst against an NJAC opponent since last February, to improve to 12-1 overall and 6-0 in the league. MSU shot just 24-of-67 overall and .358 from the field.
 
NJCU (4-8, 1-5 NJAC), dropped its third straight conference game while scoring a season low in points. The 34 points were the least allowed by Montclair this season. NJCU shot 3-of-29 in the second half (.103) when it was outscored, 26-15. NJCU was 2-of-12 from three-point range (.167) and 12-of-24 from the line.
 
A bulk of MSU's shots came from three-point range—30 of 67 attempts—and the Hawks converted only five threes or .167. It's the third time this year MSU has attempted at least 30 threes in a game.
 
In defeat, NJCU became the first school to hold MSU's two-time All-NJAC performer and reigning NJAC Player of the Year Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ/Roselle Catholic)—a D3hoops.com Preseason First-Team All-American—to single digits this season. She entered averaging 18.0 points per contest but was limited to five points (2-8 FG), seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three assists in 28 minutes. Her previous low was 10 points and she has exceeded 20 four times. Meanwhile, Tobie was limited to the second lowest scoring total of her career and it was just the seventh time in 70 games career games she failed to score in double figures.
 
However, NJCU wasn't able to contain Second-Team All-NJAC senior guard Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL/Bolingbrook), who had her first double-double this year, finishing with 14 points (6-9 FG), 12 rebounds (eight offensive), five assists, three steals and two blocks in 25 minutes. She nearly had a double-double in the first half, collecting 12 points, nine rebounds (six offensive) and four assists in the opening period.
 
In all, 10 of 13 MSU players who saw time scored. Sophomore Kayla Ceballos (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King) scored all nine of her points in the first half. She shot 3-of-7 overall, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. MSU's second leading scorer, junior guard Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), was held to less than half of her 14.8 per game scoring rate, finishing with seven points (3-9 FG, 1-6 3FG) in 16 minutes.
 
For NJCU, junior point guard ASHLEY VAZQUEZ (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) scored eight of NJCU's 19 first half points and  scored in double figures for the 11^th time in 12 games this season, tallying a team-high 11 points with five rebounds and two assists.
 
Freshman forward BRIA SMITH (Bayonne, NJ/St. Dominic Academy), the reigning NJAC Player of the Week and four-time NJAC Rookie of the Week, did not start for the first time this season but did provide eight rebounds and five points (2-5 FG) in 19 minutes.
 
Montclair never trailed although NJCU played MSU tough in the opening period and pulled with three on a triple from the left corner by junior guard JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic), 16-13, with 7:45 to go in the period. But Ceballos knocked down a pair of threes at the 7:05 and 5:57 marks and in between Medley missed all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point try. Montclair took advantage, reeling off what proved to be a 15-2 run over a stretch of 5:45 to claim a 16-point, 31-15 margin.
 
Montclair led by as many as 17 in the opening half on another Ceballos three with 1:18 to play (34-17) and held a 34-19 differential at the break. MSU outrebounded NJCU 11-4 on the offensive glass in the opening period and made those extended opportunities count, outscoring the Knights 16-2 in first half second chances.
 
Montclair pulled away further in the second half and led by as many as 28 points (59-31, 2:25) before prevailing by 26.
 
NJCU heads to Wayne, NJ for an NJAC contest with William Paterson University on Saturday, January 11 at 1 p.m. at the Rec Center.