JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's basketball team hosted Kean University at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9, in a hotly-contested New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest. The Cougars held the lead after two quarters of play, but it was the Gothic Knights that used a big third quarter to go up by five heading into the fourth. Kean retook the lead with five minutes to go, and while NJCU battled back to within one point, the home team was unable to convert on a great look at the buzzer, falling 71-70.

Both squads traded the lead several times throughout the first, but it was the Cougars (5-5, 3-2 NJAC) that scored the last two buckets of the quarter to take a one-point, 17-16 advantage into the second. Kean eventually stretched that lead out to nine points at 31-22 over NJCU (5-4, 3-2 NJAC), but junior guard Alaisha Mumford (Jersey City, N.J./Lincoln) hit a couple of big threes to close out the half and help cut the lead to five at 34-29.

Early on in the third, the Gothic Knights trailed by five at 38-33 before going on a 13-2 run and take a six-point, 46-40 lead with 4:29 remaining in the quarter. Mumford hit a three to kick off the run and closed it out with a pair of free throws. After the Cougars cut it back down to a one-point, 53-52 game with under a minute to go in the third, senior forward Dayjah Anderson (East Orange, NJ/Newark Tech) and senior guard Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) closed out the period with two more points apiece to make it a five-point lead at 57-52 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Things stayed even to start the fourth, as the Green and Gold led by five with 6:39 to go. Kean, however, used six straight points to take its first lead since the 7:57 mark of the third quarter as the Cougars led by one at 63-62 with 5:54 remaining. Sandwiched in the middle of that run was a game-changing technical foul, which allowed Kean to convert on two free throws, followed by a three-pointer in the ensuing possession to take back the lead. Sophomore guard Tahirah Kelley (Linden, N.J./Immaculate Conception) grabbed the lead back for NJCU moments later, but the Cougars then scored five in a row to go up by four at 68-64 with 3:55 remaining.

Kean eventually built up a five-point, 71-66 lead with just 2:19 to go, but a big jumper from Kelley at 1:19 and a lay-in from Anderson with 32 seconds to go made it a one-point game. NJCU made a strong defensive play, notching a steal with 13 seconds left, but ended up turning the ball over on the offensive end moments later. Then, after a pair of missed Kean free throws with four seconds to go, the Gothic Knights inbounded the ball with just three seconds to go. Not liking what they saw, a quick timeout allowed them to run one more play with two seconds left. Anderson managed to get a very quality look as time expired, but was unable to get the potential game-winner to fall as the buzzer sounded with Kean up, 71-70.

Highlights:
- Mumford led NJCU with 17 points, coming off the bench for 38 minutes. She added six boards, four assists and two steals.
- Anderson notched 16 points to go with nine boards and a steal. Rodriguez chipped in 15 points to with a game-best seven assists, three steals and two assists.
- Kelley rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points, adding four boards, three assists and two blocks.
- Junior forward Kenya Wagner (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) pulled down a game-high-tying 10 rebounds to go with three points, two blocks and two steals over 24 minutes on the floor.

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights have lost consecutive NJAC regular-season games for the first time since dropping three in a row back in late-November/early-December of the 2022-23 season. NJCU eventually righted the ship en route to the 2023 NJAC Regular-Season Championship and a 14-4 record in conference play. The Green and Gold will look to bounce back in a similar fashion when they welcome Rowan University to the JMAC for a rematch of last year's NJAC Championship game. Tip-off between the Gothic Knights and Profs is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.