GLASSBORO, N.J. – The New Jersey City University women's basketball team has done it! The Gothic Knights, seeded #6 in the 2021-22 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament, defeated #2 seed Rowan University on Thursday night, Feb. 24, by a score of 83-79. And now, for the first time in program history, NJCU will host the NJAC Title game at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Saturday night, Feb. 26, at 7:00 p.m. against #8 seed The College of New Jersey. Having won last year's crown – it's first ever – Jersey City is now going for back-to-back championships for the first time ever. However, this time there is a trip to the 2021-22 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship on the line.
 
Early on, it looked as though Rowan (17-9) had the edge as the Profs took a nine-point, 12-3 lead over the Gothic Knights (12-8) at the midway point of the first quarter. However, Jersey City was able to narrow the gap to five after 10 minutes of play. Then, following a virtually even second quarter – NJCU outscored Rowan 18-15 in this period – the Gothic Knights trimmed it to a three-point game at 35-32 at the half.
 
Trailing by seven at 35-28 with 1:55 left in the second quarter, NJCU scored five straight to close the gap thanks to a three from junior Laney Fox (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) and a jumper from junior Jada Camacho (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson). In the second half, Rowan started it off with a jumper as the first bucket of the third quarter, and then NJCU knotted it up at 37-37 with 8:44 left following buckets from junior Jimmirah Johnson (Prospect Park, N.J./International) and Camacho.
 
The Profs then raced out to a 10-3 run, however, to retake a seven-point, 47-40 lead with 5:45 left in the third. It was then the Gothic Knights' turn as they flew out to a 7-0 run of their own to tie it right back up. Fox drilled a jumper first, followed by a three from freshman Tahirah Kelley (Linden, N.J./Immaculate Conception) and another bucket from Camacho, making it 47-47 with 3:28 left. After a pair of Prof free throws, NJCU closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 54-51 lead into the final period. Camacho started with a three at 2:50, followed by a jumper from sophomore Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus). Then, after a bucket from Rowan, Rodriguez had the ball in her hand with time winding down. With one second left in the third, she sank a jumper as time expired.
 
The fourth quarter was a wild one, with the two squads combining for 57 points. The majority of the quarter, however, belonged to the Gothic Knights who jumped out to game-high leads of 12 points on two occasions. First, following a 12-5 run, NJCU held a 73-61 advantage with 3:51 remaining. Camacho and Rodriguez combined for all 12 points, with each sinking a three during that stretch. Then, after the Profs sank a couple foul shots, Fox drained a pair of her own to make it 75-63 with 3:31 left.
 
With the game at hand, it looked as though the Gothic Knights would cruise to their second-straight championship game. Rowan, however, had other ideas. The Profs used the next nearly-two minutes to go on a 12-2 run and make it a two-point game at 77-75 with just 1:28 left in regulation.
 
At this point, Rodriguez once again stepped in and did what she does to continue to prove she is one of the top players in the country – she sank a jumper at 1:04 and then another at 00:42 to make it a six-point, 81-75 game. The teams then traded pairs of free throws to keep it a six-point game at 83-77 with 00:29 remaining. Rowan made a bucket with 00:25 left, but that was the last score of the game as the Gothic Knights sealed it and clinched back-to-back championship berths for the first time in program history!
 
Highlights:
- Rodriguez once again led all scorers with 25 points, playing the complete 40 minutes. She added nine rebounds and a game-high 10 assists. It was her ninth double-double of the season and the 12th time this year she scored at least 20 points, including the fourth-consecutive game.
- Camacho poured in 23 points on a near-flawless 9-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 4-of-4 from long range. She also grabbed five boards, dished out four helpers and blocked a game-high-tying two shots.
- Fox also finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
- Johnson chipped in seven points, tied the game-high with a pair of blocks and pulled down a team-best 10 boards.
- NJCU shot very well from the floor, going 30-of-58 (51.7 percent), while holding Rowan to 36.0 percent (32-of-89). The Gothic Knights were also killers from three, going 12-of-21 (57.1 percent) beyond the arc. In the fourth quarter specifically, Jersey City was 8-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.
 
Up Next:
As mentioned, the Gothic Knights will now host the NJAC Title game for the first time in program history as they look to be the first team with win back-to-back since Montclair State University won six straight from 2013 to 2018. Jersey City hosts the #8-seeded Lions of TCNJ at the JMAC on Saturday night. NJCU topped the Lions 63-55 at home back on Jan. 31, but split the season series with them with a loss on Dec. 11 in Ewing, N.J., 64-60.