JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University women's basketball is now firmly of a playoff position halfway through the New Jersey Athletic Conference 18-game round-robin schedule after an impressive 67-57 victory over Rutgers University-Camden on January 18 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court). NJCU wins three consecutive NJAC games for the first time since January 2002—18 years ago. 
 
Tied at 17-17, NJCU  (6-8, 4-5 NJAC) unleashed a 13-0 run in the final 8:39 of the second quarter to build a 30-17 lead at the half and the Knights held Camden scoreless for more than 10 and a half minutes between the second and third quarters, manufacturing runs of 19-0 and 22-2 to build a 20-point lead that the Raptors (9-7, 2-7) could not challenge.
 
Senior shooting guard Hannah Johnson (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) matched her career high with 23 points, shooting a sizzling 9-of-12 from the field and 3-5 from three-point distance, adding five rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Ayanna Lewis (Willingboro, NJ/Burlington County institute of Technology) continued to dominate inside, producing her second double-double of the season with 14 points (6-11 FG), 12 rebounds and six blocks.
 
Meanwhile, freshman power forward Sarah Edmond (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) tallied a career-high 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, adding six rebounds, four steals and three assists and junior point guard Alexandria Sams (Burlington City, NJ/Pennsauken) handed out eight assists and picked off six steals. Junior wing Dayjah Anderson (East Orange, NJ/Newark Tech) finished with eight rebounds and six points.
 
Senior guard Fatimah Williams (Camden, N.J.) scored 10 of the first 17 points for Camden and finished with a game-high equaling 23 points, highlighted by 8-of-10 foul shooting, and 13 rebounds for a double-double. But she committed nine of Camden's 27 turnovers, contributing to NJCU outscoring the Raptors 21-11 off of giveaways. Sophomore wing Tamara Johnson (Newark, N.J.) collected 15 points (6-13 FG, 3-8 3FG), eight rebounds and four assists.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• NJCU jumped out to a 12-2 lead midway through the first quarter, getting seven from Johnson, including a layup off a steal with 4:23 to go in the half. After Camden clawed back within two after an 8-0 run (12-10), McCrae hit a three (2:03) and Edmond put back an offensive rebound to give NJCU a 17-12 margin at the end of the first quarter.
• Camden tied it with the first five points of the second quarter—a three by Tamara Johnson (9:07) and her layup with 8:39 to go in the half evened it at 17-17. 
• But after Camden tied it, NJCU responded with an 13-0 run, holding the Raptors scoreless for the rest of the quarter. Lewis hit a jumper with 7:37 to go and despite NJCU not scoring for almost three and a half minutes, she converted again with 4:13 to go. Johnson scored the next seven points—a layup with 3:33 to go and a triple from the right corner 23 seconds later that pushed the lead to 26-17 before she connected on a pullup mid-range jumper with 2:17 on the clock. Lewis hit a jumper from outside the lane at the halftime buzzer to push the lead to 30-17 at the half.
• Jumpers by Edmond and Johnson extended the run to 17-0 and a jumper by Lewis with 8:35 to go in the third quarter made it a 36-17 advantage and a 19-0 outburst. A jumper by Williams with 8:02 left in the third finally ended the Camden scoreless stretch at 10:37—more than an entire quarter without scoring.
• Johnson scored her 19th point with a triple from the left corner with 7:22 to go and the lead was 20 (39-19) as the run extended to 22-2. NJCU was never seriously challenged from there. The Knights led 44-29 after three quarters, as Edmond hit one free throw with 0.1 left in the quarter, getting clipped on an inbounds pass with 0.8 to go.
• In the fourth, Camden made a late push, aided by a pair of NJCU technical fouls, and a triple by Johnson cut the deficit to eight with 2:43 remaining (56-48). But NJCU responded immediately when Sams scored her first points of the game with a trey of her own (59-47) to end any bid for a rally.

 
NOTABLES:

• Series: 64th meeting, Camden now leads 38-26; NJCU has won the last two meetings.
• NJCU wins three consecutive NJAC games for the first time since January 2002 when it had a three-game NJAC streak and four straight wins overall. During that stretch it beat Rutgers-Newark (67-52, 1/29/2002), Stevens in non-conference action (86-75, 1/21/2002), Ramapo (67-61, 1/23/2002) and William Paterson (78-67, 1/26/2002).
• Hannah Johnson (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) previously scored 23 at Saint Elizabeth in the first game of the season on November 13, 2019. Johnson scored in double figures for the sixth time this season.
• Ayanna Lewis (Willingboro, NJ/Burlington County institute of Technology) reached double figures scoring for the fifth time and rebounding for the fourth time.
• Lewis' six blocks were the most for an NJCU player since Sharaunda Fiedtkou had six against Kean on February 1, 2016.
• Sarah Edmond (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) had her second double-digit scoring effort.
• Alexandria Sams' (Burlington City, NJ/Pennsauken) eight assists were the most for an NJCU player since Tu'ziah Hall (Greenville, NC/Banneker (NC)) had 10 against Vaughn College on December 20, 2016.
• NJCU blocked 10 shots in the game—its most since stuffing 11 against Kean on February 1, 2016.
• NJCU shot 43.9 percent (25-57)—its best percentage since the opening game against Saint Elizabeth (.444).

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU hits the road for a non-conference game against Wheaton College (Mass.) in Norton, Mass. on Monday, January 20 at 2 p.m.

 
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