Tuesday, January 04, 2011 (Women's Basketball)

ST. JOSEPH'S TOPS NJCU WOMEN, 84-64

BROOKLYN, NY (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Freshman forward MARIA SUAREZ (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) collected 13 points and nine rebounds but New Jersey City University committed 33 turnovers and St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn), which never trailed, defeated the Gothic Knights, 84-64, in a non-conference game on Tuesday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

NJCU drops the first game of the 2011 portion of it schedule and sits at 2-9 on the season with its third straight loss. The Bears shot 47.1 percent (32-68) to improve to 5-8. NJCU owns a 4-3 lead all-time in the series.

St. Joseph's used a 17-8 margin in steals and took advantage of the Knights' 33 giveaways to produce a commanding 37-17 difference in points off turnovers, including a 17-4 edge in the first half as the Bears built a 49-38 halftime lead. Each team hit seven three-pointers in the game.

For NJCU, Suarez led the club with 13 points and nine boards (five offensive) in 22 minutes, making 4-of-10 from the field and both three-point shots attempted. Senior guard CAROLINA GARCIA (Plainfield, NJ/Franklin) had 12 points (5-17 FG) and four steals in 34 minutes off the bench.

Sophomore forward DELIA CHERNEZ (Union City, NJ/Union City) notched her first career double-figure rebounding effort, grabbing a career and game-high 12 caroms (eight defensive) with six points and freshman forward ALNISA HERNAIZ (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) collected her fifth career double-digit rebounding performance with 11 boards (seven defensive), while adding nine points (5-7 FT).

Sophomore point guard NIDIA CARMONA (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) finished with nine points (3-6 FG) and sophomore forward MAXINE KAMINSKI (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) had eight points and seven rebounds.

The Bears received a game-best 20 points (9-16 FG, 2-3 3FG) and four assists from junior guard Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY). Freshman guard Kelly McNamee (Maspeth, NY) had 15 points (7-12 FG) and sophomore forward Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY) added 14 points and six rebounds, making 4-of-4 from the field and both three-point chances. In all, 11 players scored for the hosts.

SJC led 19-8 with 13:36 left in the first half before NJCU struck for 11 straight points to knot the game at 19-19 with 11:39 to play as Suarez scored nine consecutive points for the Knights, including a pair of triples.

But SJC answered with the next eight points in a span of 1:17—six by McNamee—for a 29-21 lead, gradually increasing the first half margin to 13. NJCU was able to trim the deficit to four (38-34) on a fast break Garcia bucket with 2:12 left in the half and 43-38 with 46 seconds to go before the hosts tacked on six points when McQuillan sank a three-pointer and McNamee converted a three-point play.

The Bears continued to lead by double digits throughout the second half; St. Joseph's largest lead was 23 (83-60). NJCU lost despite making 50 percent of its three-point opportunities (7-14).

NJCU plays its first road New Jersey Athletic Conference game of the season on Saturday, January 8 at 1 p.m. when it faces The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.

—www.njcugothicknights.com—