MAHWAH, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's basketball team, seeded #2 in the 2023 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, picked up a strong 13-point victory over #3 seed and New Jersey Athletic Conference (ECAC) rival William Paterson University, 74-61, today, Saturday, March 4, on the campus of another NJAC rival in Ramapo College. Four Gothic Knights scored in double figures, including a pair of double-doubles, as Jersey City takes the season series over the Pioneers, 2-1, in the first-ever neutral meeting between the programs.
NJCU (17-11) built up an eight point lead at 30-22 with 4:22 to go in the first half and looked to continue that momentum into the break, however William Paterson (16-12) cut into that deficit and made it just a 35-33 game after two quarters of play.
Coupled with their final bucket at the end of the second quarter, the Pioneers enjoyed a 7-0 run to take a three-point, 38-35 lead with 8:39 left in the third. At that point, the Gothic Knights turned on the jets and went on a 10-1 run to make it a nine-point game at 48-39. Senior guard
Jada Camacho (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) scored five of her 16 points on the night during this stretch before NJCU took a six-point, 52-46 advantage into the fourth.
Jersey City led comfortably to start the final quarter, but the Pioneers had another surge for the Gothic Knights to endure as they cut it back down to four at 54-50 with 7:41 to go in regulation. NJCU collected itself and then went on a 17-6 run to take a game-high 15-point, 71-56 lead with just 1:37 remaining. Six different members of the Green and Gold scored over that stretch, including four points apiece from senior forward
Jasmine Reese (Jersey City, N.J./Hudson Catholic) and junior guard
Sarah Edmond (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield). Reese finished with 11 points, while Edmond notched a double-double with a season-best 10 points and a game-high-tying 12 boards.
Highlights:
- Junior guard
Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) — the nation's leading scorer at 24.8 points per game — led NJCU with 17 points to go with a game-best 11 assists for her fifth double-double of the season. She is fourth in the country with 6.3 assists per game.
- Camacho added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals to her 16-point night.
- Reese scored her 11 on 4-of-5 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the line in just 19 minutes.
- Junior center
Jimmirah Johnson (Prospect Park, N.J./International) got into foul trouble, but still managed nine points and six rebounds.
Up Next:
NJCU will next meet Alvernia University back on Ramapo's campus — the #5-seeded Golden Wolves defeated the top-seeded Roadrunners, 69-52, in today's first Semifinal game — tomorrow, Sunday, March 5, for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff in the ECAC Championship game. This will be the first meeting between the Gothic Knights and Alvernia all-time.
