Saturday, December 4, 2010 (Women's Basketball)

NJCU FALLS TO 0-2 IN LEAGUE PLAY WITH LOSS TO #4 KEAN, 96-26

JERSEY CITY, NJ (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University fell to 0-2 in New Jersey Athletic Conference play with a 96-26 loss to nationally #4 ranked Kean University in a league  game played on Saturday afternoon at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on "Coach Charlie Brown Court." 

Kean, winners of 35 of its last 36 games since early in the 2009-10 season, remains unbeaten this year at  6-0 (2-0 NJAC), largely by relying on an intense pressing defense and interior play to overwhelm the Gothic Knights (1-5, 0-2 NJAC, lost three).  Kean improves to 44-9 in the all-time series between the two rivals. sKean is ranked No. 4 in Division III by both D3hoops.com and the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll.

Reigning NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, senior forward Tiffany Patrick (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) led all scorers with 17 points in 17 minutes and became the 18^th player in Kean history to score 1,000 career points. She shot 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line and added eight rebounds and three steals.

NJCU freshman guard/forward MARIA SUAREZ (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park), the reigning NJAC Rookie of the Week, led the hosts with eight points, adding three steals. Sophomore point guard NIDIA CARMONA (Plainfield, NJ/Franklin) logged 39 minutes and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

The Cougars had three players in double figures, led by Patrick's 17 points. Freshman guard Emily Cristaldi (Summit, NJ/Summit) poured in 13 points (5-9 FG) and had five steals. Junior forward Briana Wilson (Ardmore, PA/Harriton) added a dozen off the bench (5-9 FG) and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

In all, 14 players saw time for Kean and each had a rebound while 13 Cougars scored and 10 swiped a steal. Sophomore guard Nicol Biesek (South Pasadena, CA/South Pasadena) contributed eight points and five assists and sophomore guard Naimah Clemons (Newark, NJ/Newark Tech), the team's top scorer this year, had eight points and four assists in 12 minutes off the bench.

As a team, Kean had 22 steals and forced 31 Gothic Knight giveaways, leading to a commanding 48-9 margin in point off turnovers and a 24-0 margin in fast break scoring. Kean dominated the paint with a 54-12 advantage and its bench outscored NJCU's reserved, 51-12.

Kean shot 50.0 percent from the field (35-70) and owned a 62-30 rebounding margin. NJCU was limited to 18.6 percent shooting (11-59) and was 0-for-15 from three-point range.

Kean jumped out to a 14-4 lead and later closed out the period with a 25-4 run and took a 49-14 cushion into the half. Patrick, who scored 15 in the first period, re-entered the contest with 14:14 remaining and quickly scored her milestone basket 20 seconds later when she scored a layup on the right post to give her team a 65-18 advantage with 13:54 remaining in regulation. 

Kean's largest lead was the 70-point final margin of victory. The 96-26 final marked the fourth-largest margin of defeat in NJCU history—all in conference play.  It was also the largest winning margin by an opponent who failed to eclipse the century mark.  NJCU last lost by 70 or more points in a game on February 17, 1995 against then Rowan College.

NJCU returns to action on Monday, December 6 as the Gothic Knights host Lehman College in a non-conference game at 6 p.m. Kean hosts DeSales University on December 8 before a road game against Division I Rutgers University on December 15.

—www.njcugothicknights.com—