MEDFORD, Mass. — A shorthanded New Jersey City University women's basketball squad put forth an extremely admirable performance on Monday night, Jan. 17, as the Gothic Knights faced off with #9
(d3hoops.com) Tufts University and nearly took down the top-10 ranked Jumbos on the road. NJCU led Tufts after the first half and by as many as seven early in the third quarter, but unfortunately fell to the Jumbos by four, 65-61.
Jersey City (4-6) and Tufts (12-2) were deadlocked through one quarter of play. The Gothic Knights held the early advantage, leading by four points on several occasions, before the home team eventually took a brief lead toward the end of the quarter. A big three by freshman
Olivia Wooten (East Orange, N.J./Immaculate Conception) at the 1:37 mark put NJCU up 15-12 and the Jumbos tied it up to end the first 10:00 of play. The second quarter was much of the same, with the teams trading the lead back and forth and back and forth. Then, with just 00:23 left until halftime, sophomore
Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) drilled a three to put her squad up by two at 34-32, a lead NJCU took into the break.
That trey marked the beginning of an 8-0 run for the Gothic Knights that eventually put them up by seven at 39-32 with 9:07 to go in the third quarter. Junior
Laney Fox (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) made both buckets to start the half, drilling a jumper at 9:38 and then a three of her own at 9:07. From that point, Tufts whittled NJCU's lead down throughout the quarter before eventually taking a four-point advantage into the fourth. Overall, the Jumbos outscored the Knights 16-10 in the third — the only period in which Tufts outscored Jersey City.
Then came the fourth quarter. It seemed as though the competitive tone of the game had begun to slip away as the Jumbos jumped out to a 12-point, 62-50 lead with just 3:32 remaining in regulation. At that point, NJCU turned on the afterburners to the tune of a 9-0 run — seven of which came from Rodriguez — to make it a three-point, 62-59 game with just 00:51 left. Rodriguez started with a free throw at 3:21. In the next possession, she notched a steal and sank the fastbreak lay-in to cut the defecit to nine. Just about 30 seconds later, she sank another bucket in the paint to make it a seven-point game and force a Tufts' timeout.
Out of the break, the Jumbos attempted a three but newcomer freshman
Tahirah Kelley (Linden, N.J./Immaculate Conception) came up big with a block which turned into a jumper on the other end for Rodriguez to cut it to five. After over a minute of scoreless basketball, junior
Jada Camacho (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) sank a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game. Tufts sank a pair of foul shots with 00:20 to go, but freshman
Kyla Craddock (Orange, N.J./Newark Tech) was able to cut it back down to three with a jumper down low with 00:07 left. Tufts, unfortunately, was able to seal it a second later with a made free throw to end the night.
Highlights:
- After a slow start to the night, Rodriguez' strong second half led her to finish with a team-high 16 points. She added six boards, two steals and a game-high seven assists. She entered the night second in all of Division III in assists per game.
- Fox, who along with Rodriguez, played all 40 minutes on the night, finished with 15 points, six boards three assists, a block and a steal.
- Rookie
Liyah Allen (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) chipped in 13 points on 6-of-11 from the floor to go with three boards and a block.
- Craddock was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor, while Camacho led the Gothic Knights with 10 boards.
Up Next:
Depsite the loss, NJCU looks to take tonight's momentum and bring it to Newark, N.J., on Wednesday night, Jan. 19, when the Gothic Knights take on New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) foe Rutgetrs-Newark for a 6:00 p.m. tip. Jersey City then heads down to Camden, N.J., on Saturday, Jan. 22, for a 1:00 p.m. tip at Rutgers-Camden.
