JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University women's basketball team used a 17-6 third quarter outburst to make it a meaningful fourth quarter but William Paterson University was able to outlast the Gothic Knights, 71-66, in a second-straight tightly New Jersey Athletic Conference loss on December 4 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
The Knights (1-4, 0-2 NJAC) trailed by 14 at the break (44-30), but they allowed only a pair of Pioneer (2-5, 1-1 NJAC) threes in the entire third quarter, as they got to within single digits, trailing by as little as three (50-47) heading into the fourth quarter.
It was a balanced attack once again for NJCU, as they got double-digit scoring from five players, with no one player scoring more than 14. The story was similar for Paterson, with five players tallying at least nine points, and their leading scorer coming in at 17.
Junior power forward Ayanna Lewis led the Knights with 14 points (6-12 FG) and seven rebounds, while redshirt freshman center Jasmine Reese tallied her third career double-double but her first since early in a 2018-19 season cut short; she provided 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.
Also for NJCU, freshman small forward Sarah Edmond chipped in 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Junior point guard Alexandria Sams had 12 points, three steals, two rebounds, and two assists and junior swing Dayjah Anderson came off the bench for 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
The first quarter was a bit sloppy, with the two teams combining for 18 turnovers, as the Pioneers took an early lead they would never relinquish. The Knights were able to keep eventual leading scorer [freshman forward] Allison McBride (Ringwood, N.J.) quiet in the first, but the Pioneers made the most of the Gothic Knight turnovers to establish their early edge, leading 18-11 after one.
The Pioneers quickly pushed their lead to double digits in the second—as many as 15 before taking a 14-point edge into the break, 44-30. McBride started to get hot, helping on her way to 17 points and nine rebounds for the game, shooting 7-of-9 from the field.
The Gothic Knight D clamped down in the third, however, limiting the Pioneers to just 2-of-10 shooting, while hammering the offensive glass and cutting deep into the Paterson lead. For the game, NJCU outscored Paterson 18-5 on second-chance points, with Edmond doing more of her excellent work on the glass [six offensive boards].
Paterson scored the first six points of the fourth quarter, but a Sams three stopped that run, cutting the lead back down to six. Later in the frame, Reese went coast-to-coast one possession and had the potential for an and-one to make it a one possession game with 4:08 remaining, but she missed the free throw. Paterson immediately made them pay with a fastbreak jumper, and the Knights weren't able to get closer than five the rest of the game.
Senior guard Alisa Giordano (Wood-Ridge, N.J.) had a strong game next to McBride, tallying 11 points, six assists, three rebounds, and two steals of her own. Freshman guard Madison Dulude (Sewell, N.J.) added 12 points and seven rebounds but committed nine of WP's 27 turnovers. Sophomore guard Danica Defrank (Fairfield, N.J.) finished with 10 points.
NOTABLES:
- Series: 76th meeting. William Paterson leads 65-11 and has now won the last 22 meetings.
- Transfers Lewis and Anderson both set career-highs for points for the second straight game.
- The two teams combined for 51 turnovers in the game.
UP NEXT:
- The Knights stay in conference and will handle their first road test of the NJAC season, traveling to Glassboro, N.J. to take on the Profs of Rowan University (5-1, 2-0 NJAC) on Saturday, December 7 (1 p.m.).
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