JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior point guard Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) has piled heaps of historical nights in her lone season as a member of the New Jersey City University women's basketball team. On January 10, she reached heights that only the greatest Gothic Knight of all-time, Monique Hemingway, dared to aim. In yet another historic night for Bacon and the Gothic Knights, NJCU trounced Pratt Institute (4-4) by a 110-33 result in a make-up non-conference game at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on Coach Charlie Brown Court.
 
For 30 years no Gothic Knight had reached the 40-point plateau and no one had come close to Hemingway's single-game scoring record of 43. But that all changed as Bacon sizzled from the stat, unleashing 46 points while becoming the first Gothic Knight to ever record two triple doubles in a season or a career—achieving just the fifth triple double in school history.
 
Bacon chalked up 11 steals, 10 rebounds and six assists to collect her second triple-double in four games and her 46 points eclipses the previous mark of 43 by Hemingway set on February 11, 1989 vs. Rutgers-Camden. Hemingway, NJCU's all-time career leader in points (1673) and rebounds (1256), was previously the only NJCU player to ever score 40 in a game—she also had 40 at Kean on February 23, 1989—and owned the top three single-game performances ever at the university...until Thursday night.
 
Bacon's 46 points are the second most among men's or women's players in NJCU history; Brett Wyatt had 52 points against Mercy in a 136-108 win on February 11, 1979—exactly 10 years prior to the day Hemingway set the women's mark.
 
Meanwhile, NJCU (4-10) won for the fourth time in six games after an 0-8 start. Playing its second of five games in an eight-day stretch, the 110 point mark was the second highest single-game team scoring mark in school history; NJCU had defeated Vaughn 123-44 on December 20, 2016. It was only the fifth 100-point scoring outburst in program history.
 
NJCU also set a single-game school record with 39 steals; the previous mark was 31 against Medgar Evers on December 15, 2001. It was the fourth most steals by a team in NCAA Division III history.
 
Bacon also established a single-game record with 20 made field goals (20-46), including 16-of-31 from two-point range. She waited until literally the last second to grab her 10th rebound, seizing a loose ball of the final Pratt shot with 1.3 seconds remaining for rebound No. 10. She had a +/- of 72 in the 77-point rout.
 
Her 46 points is a career high, eclipsing the 44-point game she had on January 3, 2016 as a freshman while playing for Kean against Bridgewater State. It was her fifth career 40-point effort, 10 35+ point performance and 20th showing of 30 or more points.
 

Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) was far from the only Knight to have an excellent game, as five different player scored in double figures for NJCU. Twin sister Miesha Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) nearly had a triple-double of her own, with 21 points, 13 rebounds, nine steals, and three assists. Senior guard Jesenia Montalvo (Hillside, NJ/Bayonne) had a stuffed stat sheet herself, with 12 points, eight steals, six rebounds, and six assists, finishing with a +/- of 75.
 
Senior guard Christine Bizub (Fort Lee, NJ/Fort Lee) and NJCU freshman point guard Teresa Ortiz (Newark, N.J./University) also tallied double digits, as the Knights saw eight different players score on the day. Bizub's 13 points are a career high (previous, 8 points) as were her seven rebounds and three steals.
 
Ortiz, who helped lead a 30-3 University High School squad to the 2018 Group I state title, originally committed to Division I Florida Atlantic after averaging 15.4 points per game last year. After earning First-Team All-State Group I accolades last year, the mid-year addition joined the Knights this week and without a physical practice under her belt, quickly learned the NJCU system. She made her NCAA debut at the 6:21 mark of the third quarter and debuted with aplomb. The 5-6 guard connected on four shots, two of which were nothing but net from beyond the arc, finishing with seven points in 11 minutes. She added three assists and had the look of a player who could make a definitive impact on the second half of the season for the Knights.
 
The Knights blitzed the Cannoneers with a hard press right from the jump, and the result was a 25-5 first quarter in favor of NJCU. The Knights forced 17 Pratt turnovers in the quarter, scoring 16 points off those giveaways. Due to the turnover and offensive rebound discrepancy, the Knights got 30 shots off in the first, compared to just seven shots for Pratt. Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) had 15 points through just the first quarter. NJCU outscored Pratt 29-11 in the second quarter and led 54-16 at halftime.
 
In what became a live practice session for the Knights due to playing three games in four days, NJCU continued to press and turn the Cannoneers over into the third quarter, with Bacon picking up her fourth foul at the 5:56 mark in the third quarter. As a result, the Knights' star player, who came into the game sixth in the country averaging 38.7 minutes per game, had to head to the bench, sitting on 31 points. She sat for just two minutes before returning to the game with four fouls at the 3:55 mark in the third. From there on out, she would score 15 more points, breaking the school record in the process, without picking up a single foul.
 
In addition to Bacon's school record and Ortiz's strong debut, Bizub also had undoubtedly her best game in an NJCU uniform, showing aggression in driving to the hoop, getting to the line for 10 free throws. In fact, she went to the line more on Thursday than she had all season combined, and her seven rebounds were half her season total (14) coming into the game.
 
The NJCU victory was thorough, winning each quarter decisively, never scoring fewer than 25 in a quarter, and never allowing more than 11 to be scored on them in any quarter. The Knights outrebounded an opponent by more than one for the first time all season, pulling down 60 rebounds to Pratt's 48. They also forced a season-high 48 turnovers, collecting the record 39 steals as a result. Their 26 assists doubled their previous season-high. NJCU led 82-23 after three quarter, reached 100 points with 4:51 to go, and led by as many as 79 points.
 
NOTABLES:

• Series: Fourth meeting. NJCU has won all four meetings.
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) increased her season scoring average from 24.7 to 26.2 points per game. She ranks fourth in Division III in scoring. She also increased her steals per game average from 5.1 to 5.5 per game, overtaking Monique Joseph of Old Westbury for first in the country for Division III women's basketball.
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) now has 1,954 career points. She is 46 away from joining the 2,000-point club—something achieved by just 46 players in Division III history. The only other player in Division III near the milestone is Madison Temple of nation powerhouse Thomas More with 1,924 points, but has already played 22 games this season and does not play again until January 26.
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) has now scored in double figures 81 times in 82 career games between Kean (2015-18, 67 times in 68 games) and NJCU (14 times in 14 games). Other updated career totals for Bacon:
  • 20-Point Games: 56 (44 at Kean, 12 at NJCU)
  • 25-Point Games: 37 (30 at Kean, seven at NJCU)
  • 30-Point Games: 20 (16 at Kean, four at NJCU)
  • 35-Point Games: 10 (eight at Kean, two at NJCU)
  • 40-Point Games: 5 (four at Kean; career high, 46 at NJCU)
• Miesha Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) had her third 20-point performance of the season and her sixth double-digit scoring effort.
• Miesha Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) registered her third double-double of the season.
• Christine Bizub (Fort Lee, NJ/Fort Lee) had her fifth career double-digit scoring effort
• Jesenia Montalvo (Hillside, NJ/Bayonne) had her 13th career double-digit scoring effort and third of the season.
• The most steals in a game in Division III history:
  • 46, Colby-Sawyer vs. Eastern Nazarene (December 8, 2001)
  • 44, Mount Aloysius vs. Valley Forge (November 16, 2013)
  • 42, Goucher vs. Lancaster Bible (November 23, 1992)
  • 39, NJCU vs. Pratt (January 10, 2019)
  • 39, Washington College vs. Valley Forge (January 8, 2009)

 
UP NEXT:

• On Saturday, January 12, NJCU travels to Camden, N.J. for a conference matchup with Rutgers-Camden (8-6, 4-4 NJAC). The game is set to tip off at 1:00 p.m.

 
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ALL-TIME TRIPLE DOUBLES, NJCU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY
DATE	PLAYER	STATS	OPPONENT	SCORE
01/10/2018	Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune)	46 points, 10 rebounds, 11 steals	PRATT	WON, 110-33
12/17/2018	Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune)	32 points, 15 rebounds, 11 steals	DREW	WON, 65-48
01/28/2008	Vanessa Vargas Espinoza	20 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists	at City Tech	WON, 68-47
01/12/2002	Shondelle Browne	12 points, 13 rebounds, 12 steals	ROWAN	Lost, 62-48
02/13/1986	Monique Hemingway	18 points, 22 rebounds, 12 assists	at Rutgers-Camden	WON, 105-45