WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The New Jersey City University women's basketball team, which entered the 2022-23 season receiving votes in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll for the first time in program history, opened up its 25-game regular-season campaign with a Thursday night, Nov. 10, road clash against Division I opposition Monmouth University. The Gothic Knights gave it their all throughout the game, leading by as many as four points midway through the third quarter, but unfortunately fell to the Hawks, 79-70. NJCU standout junior preseason All-America point guard Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) poured in a career-best 33 points and showed out as arguably the best player on the floor tonight.
 
Jersey City (0-1) started off slow against the Hawks (1-1) with a tough first quarter in which the road squad trailed 26-12. However, Rodriguez did was she so often does against Division III opponents and took over the game. She scored eight of the Gothic Knights' 12 points in the first quarter and continued to fire on all cylinders, pouring in nine more to lead all scorers with 17 after 20 minutes of play. Thanks in part to her strong first-half showing, the Green and Gold whittled down what was once a 16-point Monmouth lead and brought the game into the break tied up at 34-34.
 
After the Hawks started off with a three to kick of the third and take a three-point lead, NJCU went on a 9-1 run and led by four points at 42-38 with 6:56 remaining in the quarter. Junior guard Laney Fox (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) made a couple of free throws at the 9:00-mark, followed by a jumper in the lane from sophomore forward Liyah Allen (Hillside, N.J./Hillside). Rodriguez then drilled another jumper at 7:59 and finished off the run with another lay-in at 6:56. Monmouth stretched its lead back out to six, but four more points from Rodriguez – she finished with eight more points in the third – and a free-throw from Fox made it a 53-50 Hawks' lead after three quarters.
 
Rodriguez started off the fourth with another jumper to trim it down to one, but unfortunately Monmouth began to take control from that point forward and led by as many as 18 points at 72-54 with 4:01 remaining. However, not to be out done, the Gothic Knights regained momentum toward the end of the game with a 13-2 run to make it a seven-point game at 74-67. Rodriguez started with another three at 3:42 and then sophomore transfer forward Kyara Cowan – who had a strong debut for NJCU – had five straight points with three free-throws and a fast-break bucket. After a quick Hawks' pull-up, Rodriguez drilled yet another three in transition – she tallied eight more points in the final quarter. Cowan closed it out with an offensive board and a lay-in with 53 seconds left.
 
Moments later, senior guard Jada Camacho (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) closed out the scoring for the Gothic Knights with a three to make it 77-70 with 11 seconds remaining and the Green and Gold would eventually fall by nine, 79-70.
 
Highlights:
- Fox joined Rodriguez in double-figures with 13 points and was 5-of-6 from the foul line. As a team, NJCU was a stellar 12-of-13 from the stripe.
- Cowan had a near-double-double in her NJCU debut, notching nine points and a team-high-tying nine boards in 15 minutes off the bench.
- Camacho made a difference – as she tends to do – on the defensive end, blocking a game-high three shot attempts to go with a team-best and game-high-tying four assists.
- Allen came off the bench for 19 minutes and finished with six points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks.
- Senior forward Janari Newsome (Newark, N.J./Technology) set a career best with a team-high-tying nine boards in 20 minutes off the bench.
 
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to exhibition/scrimmage play one more time for the season tomorrow night, Friday, Nov. 11, when they host Division II Alliance University at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) for a closed-door clash. Then, regular-season play continues with one final tune-up before NJAC play begins as NJCU squares off with another Division I foe in Delaware State University on Monday, Nov. 21, in Dover, Del., for a 6:00 p.m. tipoff.