For Starters:                
NJCU plays the first of its 11 home games tonight, which include nine New Jersey Athletic Conference contests. The Gothic Knights lost their NJAC opener at Rutgers-Newark on November 24, 86-65. William Paterson handed Ramapo a 66-42 setback that night.
 
#GothicRewind—NJCU Rallies Past Rutgers-Newark, 69-62
In its last action on November 24, Rutgers-Newark shot 9-of-15 from three-point distance and better than 50 percent from the floor in an 86-65 result over NJCU in the NJAC opener for both schools in Newark. In defeat for NJCU, sophomore guard/forward Mikeera Brown (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) produced a career-high 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting, with seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 31 minutes. Junior guard Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) netted 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting while senior forward Deseree Johnson (Red Bank, NJ/Monmouth Regional) finished with 10 points, making 3-of-6 from three-point territory. Maria Simmons scored 28 points for the Raiders, hitting 11-of-19 overall and 4-of-6 from three-point territory while dishing 12 assists.
 
Relying on Des
Deseree Johnson has been key for NJCU in the early going. She has scored in double figures in all four games with two double-doubles. She has 19 double-figure scoring efforts in her career and five double-doubles. Johnson is averaging a near double-double of 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest and has contributed 2.0 steals and 1.3 assists. She ranks 68th nationally in double doubles and 81st in defensive rebounds per game (7). She ranks second in the conference in offensive rebounding (7.0 per game), fifth in the league in rebounding, sixth in three-pointers made (2.0 per game), 10th in three-point percentage (.381) and minutes played (32.5), 15th in steals, and 18th in scoring.
 
Jazzing it Up
Jazz Randall has scored in double figures twice this year in four games after only doing so four times in her first 49 career games. She is averaging 10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals.
 
Contributing Transfer
Mikeera Brown, a transfer from Kean, has increased her contributions in each of her first four games as a Gothic Knight, netting seven, nine 10 and 16 points, respectively. She is averaging 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks. Brown currently lists eighth in the NJAC in blocked shots and 22nd in scoring.
 
Need to Limit Giveaways
Turnovers have been an Achilles' heel for NJCU. The Knights have committed 93 turnovers this year with 20 or more in each game. Remarkably, opponents have committed even more giveaways (95). Opponents have an 84-76 edge in points off turnovers so far. NJCU's scoring offense currently ranks 10th in the league (55.2 per game). NJCU is also 10th in free throw percentage (.552), three-point percentage (.231), three-point percentage defense (.441) and assists per game (9.3).
 
Doubling Up in the Series:                  
NJCU won the last meeting between the schools on February 9, 2015 to snap WP's 25-game winning streak in the series, which had started on December 4, 2002 (L, 62-50 at Wayne, NJ). Only twice in the history of the series has NJCU won consecutive meetings with the Pioneers—January 25, 1984 (77-75 at Wayne, NJ) and December 5, 1984 (56-46 at Wayne, NJ) and then twice during the 2001-02 season—November 24, 2001 (67-53 at Jersey City, NJ) and January 26, 2002 (W, 78-67 at Wayne, NJ).
 
Pioneer Points:                       

• Erin Monahan is in her 23rd season at William Paterson—matching TCNJ's Dawn Henderson for the longest-serving active coaches in the conference in women's basketball. Monahan currently has a 431-412 edge in all-time victories over Henderson.
• William Paterson leads the NJAC in scoring defense, allowing just 50.6 points per game. The Pioneers also have the league's best field goal percentage defense (.325). Opponents are shooting just .203 from three-point distance. WP has a +8.8 rebounding margin. Nationally, WP ranks 12th in three-point percentage defense, 26th in rebound margin, 42nd in scoring defense and 42nd in field goal percentage defense.
• Senior guard Brittany Harden was a Second-Team All-NJAC selection last year. She's averaging 8.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals thus far in 2015-16.
• Ariana Gomez has come off the bench to be WP's top scorer at 11.4 per game. Despite not starting a game yet, she's also the Pioneers' top rebounder at 6.8 per session. She leads the NJAC in field goal percentage thru five games at 62.5 percent (20-32); the next closest player is at 56.5 percent.
• Sihana Asani currently leads the NJAC in three-point percentage at 72.7 percent. She is 8-of-11 from deep.
• Senior Alex Milne is fourth in the league in free throw accuracy (.765, 13-17)