New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University sophomore power forward Bria Smith (Bayonne, NJ/St. Dominic Academy) posted another monster double-double performance, seizing 22 rebounds and 15 points to lead the Gothic Knights to a 63-56 come-from-behind non-conference win over St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn on January 12 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
 
Smith became the sixth known player in school history to register multiple career 20-rebound efforts and was one shy of her season and career-best 23 achieved last month as she claimed 12 of her 22 boards in the second half, finishing with eight offensive and 14 defensive caroms. She shot 5-of-10 from the field and for the first time as a collegian played a full 40 minutes while collecting three blocks and three steals. It was her ninth double-double of the season and 19th of her career.
 
After losing its last two New Jersey Athletic Conference games against tough competition, NJCU moved back to the .500 mark at 7-7—the latest into the calendar the Knights have been .500 since also being 7-7 14 games through the 2005-06 season (January 18, 2006). In the first meeting between the schools in four seasons, St. Joe's also fell to 7-7.
 NJCU trailed by four at the half (31-27) and six in the opening minute of the second period before the Knights unleashed a 17-2 run that turned a 33-27 deficit with 19:16 remaining into a 44-35 advantage at the 13:04 juncture.
 
Junior guard Kiana Briggs (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) and senior shooting guard Jade Medley (Queens, NY/Hudson Catholic) both struggled shooting from the field but were lights out from the line as the trio of Smith, Briggs and Medley combined to shoot 18-of-21 at the stripe.
 
Briggs finished with 15 points on 7-of-7 foul shooting while adding seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Medley collected 11 points on 6-of-8 free throws. Smith made 5-of-6 from the line where the rest of the team was a collective 1-of-7.
 

For St. Joe's, freshman guard Destiny Marino notched a game-high 17 points (6-16 FG) including a half-court heave at the buzzer to give the Lady Bears the four-point margin at the break. She added eight rebounds and five assists.
 
Two SJCBK senior forwards chalked up double-doubles. Taylor Raccuglia recorded 16 points (7-20 FG), 10 rebounds (nine defensive) and four blocks while Samantha Retas added 13 rebounds (12 defensive), 11 points and three blocks. The Bears' top three players accounted for 44 of its 56 points.
 
The Knights claimed the early first half lead, pushing the advantage to as many as five points on four occasions, including 15-10 on a three by freshman guard Irelynn Donovan (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) with 9:39 to go in the half. Donovan's three-point splash with 7:19 left made it a 20-15 lead and SJC was behind until a fast break steal and layup by Marino with 3:17 to go in the period gave the guests a 23-22 edge.
 
After a jumper by Briggs made it a one-point game in the final seconds, Marino, who scored 12 of her 17 in the first half, hit a running shot from midcourt at the buzzer that didn't win her a new car but did give the Bears a 31-27 lead at the break. NJCU shot 24.4 percent in the first half (10-41) and made just 3-of-16 three-point tries (.188).
 
But after SJCBK went up second, NJCU's 17-2 run over the next 6:18 changed the outcome. Smith (5), Briggs (4) and Medley (6) accounted for 15 of the 17 points and Medley's three with 15:30 to play gave the Knights the lead for good (36-35) as the hosts scored the next 11 points for the 44-35 cushion.
 
SJCBK didn't go away easily and Marino's second chance basket with 6:47 left cut the lead to two (48-46). Four Medley foul shots over the next minute and a Smith jumper pushed the lead back to seven and sophomore point guard Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) hit a pair of baskets to make it a 58-49 contest.
 
Once more the Bears rallied to cut it to two (58-56) with 2:25 to play on a steal and fast break by Kristen Ferrigno but the NJCU defense held the visitors scoreless the rest of the game as SJCBK missed its final five shots and Briggs iced it with four foul shots in the final 2:15.
 
QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Amy Mulligan (fourth season):

On the result: "I think this game we had to just tough it out. We weren't hitting our shots but we took it to the basket strong and created easy opportunities and got ourselves to the foul line. I think we made shots when we needed to today and defensively made some important stops. The big thing was we grinded it out and at the end of the game we hit the shots we needed."
 
On Bria Being Bria: "Bria was tremendous especially being double-teamed for most of the night but hit the glass hard and that is where she really shined tonight."
 
On Briggs and Medley contributing to the win: "Although they had an off-night shooting, Kiana and Jade really stepped up big for us down the stretch at the free throw line." 
 OF NOTE:

• Series: 8th meeting. NJCU leads series, 5-3. First meeting since January 4, 2011.
• Bria Smith reached double figures in scoring for the 27th time in 39 career games and the 12th time in 14 games this year.
• Bria Smith hauled in double digits in rebounding for the 24th time as a collegian and ninth time this season.
• Bria Smith was a rebound high of match her career high of 23 on December 13 vs. Purchase.
• Jade Medley collected her 28th career double-digit scoring effort and eighth of the season.
• Kiana Briggs totaled double figures in scoring for the sixth time this season and 24th time in her career.
• Kiana Briggs dished at least five assists in a game for the ninth time in her career (third time this season).

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
On Wednesday, January 14 NJCU will face Rutgers University-Camden (4-10, 0-7 NJAC, lost 3) in Camden, NJ at 6 p.m. NJCU won the last meeting, 73-55, in Camden on February 19, 2014. NJCU has won the last three meetings. It will be the 54th meeting in a series the Scarlet Raptors lead, 30-23.