EWING, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Trailing by one heading into the fourth quarter, the New Jersey City University women's basketball team put the absolute clamps down, limiting The College of New Jersey to just one point in the final frame until the last seconds of the New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup, resulting in a 58-50 upset victory for the Gothic Knights on February 12 at Packer Hall. The NJCU upset of the preseason NJAC favorites snapped an overall 22-game losing streak to the Lions and was the Knights first road win in Ewing in 26 years.
 
The win was only NJCU's fourth ever in 66 meetings against the Lions (15-8, 12-4 NJAC) and snapped a 21-game losing streak in Ewing; it was the first NJCU win at TCNJ since January 22, 1994—a 66-57 outcome. It was NJCU's first victory against the Lions at any site since a 54-52 win in Jersey City on January 18, 2006.
 
NJCU (10-13, 7-9 NJAC) improved to 5-3 on the road in the NJAC this season under second-year head coach Patrick Devaney, Sr., guaranteeing the program's first winning road record in the NJAC ever—remarkably, just two years removed from going 0-18 in NJAC play for the third consecutive season and less than 15 months after breaking a 58-game conference losing streak. 
 
NJCU's seven wins in the league are its most since going 8-10 in the 1998-99 season and NJCU has two games remaining to try to set a single-season NJAC record.
 
With the win, NJCU can clinch its first NJAC Tournament berth in 31 years—since the 1988-89 season—with a win on Saturday at Rutgers-Camden.  
 
NJCU played their cleanest game of the season, turning the ball over just eight times, and recording as many assists as turnovers for the first time all year. That offense was led by the dynamic backcourt duo of senior captain Hannah Johnson (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy), who had 16 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two assists, and junior combo guard Dayjah Anderson (East Orange, NJ/Newark Tech), who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with three blocks and two assists.
 
Freshman center Janari Newsome (Newark, NJ/Technology) had her best effort in the green and gold, scoring nine points (4-7 FG) and pulling down six boards in a 24 minutes — all of which were season highs. Freshman small forward Sarah Edmond (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) also grabbed 11 rebounds and senior point guard Aaliyah McCrae (Paterson, NJ/Manchester Regional) finished with nine points and three assists.
 

The Knights held the Lions to just 27.4 percent shooting, with sophomore wing Rachel Gazzola (Howell, N.J.) and senior forward Jen Byrne (Medford, N.J.) the only two Lions to reach double figures, with 17 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman guard Sydney Blum (Newtown, Pa.) and junior guard Jane Beiermeister (Montville, N.J.) each had double digit rebounds—11 and 10, respectively—while Byrne had a game-high five assists.
 
"We knew we had to run them and wear them down in order to take the game from them," said Devaney. "It took unwavering effort from each player. Janari Newsome (Newark, NJ/Technology) was a huge spark for us and played her tail off. This win was  huge for us, confidence wise and to keep our NJAC playoff dreams alive. We know on the road we have to always give it all we have and be all in. That is why we were successful tonight. We played great defense, we finally boxed out and communicated today."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The preseason conference favorite Lions started off the game showing some impressive range, with junior Elle Cimilluca (Colonia, N.J.) and Gazzola each making threes on the first two possessions. However, those two made threes would represent two of just four made threes on the night for the Lions, as they shot 4-25 from downtown. 
• In fact, the Lions missed their next 15 attempted threes, but they were still the dominant team early, going ahead 18-6 late in the quarter, before a Johnson layup on the final possession cut the margin to 10 at the end of the first.
• In the second, Newsome, among others, was able to help the Knights chip away at the Lion lead, getting the margin down to six on a McCrae three before a pair of Gazzola free throws made it 30-22 at the break.
• The Knights made their intentions known right out of the break, however, as Johnson banged home a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions to instantly cut the lead down to just two—the closest the game had been since 3-2.
• At the 7:25 mark, Newsome tied things up on the fastbreak, and at the 5:50 mark, McCrae gave the team its first lead, 35-33, on a runner in the lane.
• All told, the Knights blitzed the Lions for 23 points in the third, but the Lions put up a few points of their own down the stretch to take a one-point, 46-45 lead into the final 10 minutes.
• And while offense was the calling card for the Knights in the third, their defense was what got them the historic win in the fourth. The Lions didn't score for the first 5:29 of the period, with Edmond and McCrae spurring a vicious defensive effort that allowed the Knights to hold a 51-46 lead midway through the fourth after Anderson sank a jumper with 5:59 remaining.
• After a lone free throw for TCNJ that cut the lead to 51-47 at the 4:31 mark, the Knights kept the Lions off the board basically the rest of the entire game, with only a Byrne three coming at the buzzer in an otherwise unreal defensive performance from the Knights. 
• While NJCU went a stretch of 4:51 without scoring, they got late points to complement its defense to seal the win. McCrae scored inside with 1:08 remaining and Johnson sank two key foul shots with 16 seconds on the clock (56-47) to ice it.

 
NOTABLES:

• Series: 66th meeting. TCNJ now leads 62-4. 
• NJCU reached double figures in victories for the first time since going 10-15 during the 2014-15 season. NJCU has a chance to win more than 10 games for the first time since going 14-13 while playing as an independent [non-NJAC] in 2004-05.
• Dayjah Anderson (East Orange, NJ/Newark Tech) scored in double figures for the 13th time in 20 games. 
• Hannah Johnson (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) has scored in double figures in 12 games this season; she scored in double figures for the first time in four games after a previous streak of eight games in a row.
• Sarah Edmond (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) reached double figures in rebounding for the eighth time this year.

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU heads on the road to face their closest competition for the final playoff spot in the NJAC, with Rutgers-Camden (12-11, 5-11 NJAC) two games behind the Knights with two games left in the NJAC season. Tip-off is set from 1:00 p.m. in Camden. An NJCU win will seal the elusive NJAC Tournament berth.

 
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