SELINSGROVE, Pa. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University women's basketball team scored eight straight points to tie the game at 8-8 with 2:55 left in the first quarter but it wasn't enough as Thiel College defeated NJCU, 66-42, in the first round of the  Susquehanna Trailways Tipoff Tournament on November 18 inside Susquehanna University's Houts Gymnasium.
 
The Tomcats outscored the Gothic Knights, 25-10, in the second quarter, and were up 39-18 at the half, before leading by as many as 36 points late in the third quarter. With the win, Thiel improves to 1-1 on the season, while NJCU falls to 0-2.
 
Junior forward D`Amonte Cancel (Freehold Township, NJ/Freehold Township) led NJCU with a season-high 12 points and five rebounds. For the second straight game, junior point guard Jesenia Montalvo (Hillside, NJ/Bayonne) scored in double digits as she tallied a career-high 11 points. Nazjae Imes (Jersey City, NJ/St. Mary of the Assumption) secured seven rebounds (six defensive).
 
NJCU turned the ball over 16 fewer times than in its season opener and outscored Thiel, 18-9, in the fourth quarter of play. In the first half, the Tomcats shot 53 percent overall (15-28) and 57 percent from three (8-14), respectively. Conversely, NJCU was limited to 34 percent shooting overall and made 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.
 
Theil's Jess Vormelker had a near triple-double as she scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out five assists in 33 minutes of action. Three other Tomcats reached double-digit scoring as nine of Taylor Duchon's 16 points came from downtown and Alivia Sidley and Brittany Shumar each contributed 11 points.
 
Impressively, Shumar scored a point for each minute played as nine of her 11 points came from beyond the arc. Duchon narrowly missed a double-double performance as the senior forward pulled down seven rebounds.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: First meeting between the two teams.
• Jesenia Montalvo (Hillside, NJ/Bayonne) scored a career-high 11 points. She achieved her previous career best of 10 points twice. The most recent performance came on November 15, 2017 at Lehman and against NJAC foe TCNJ on February 5, 2015 in Jersey City, N.J.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?:
The Gothic Knights play in the consolation round of the Susquehanna Trailways Tipoff Tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Penn State-Berks. After NJCU's game against Thiel, PSU-Berks fell to host Susquehanna, 68-59, in the other opening round game.
 
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