UNION, N.J. (2/23/11) – Rutgers-Newark senior forward Jaleesa Coleman scored a game-high 24 points and hit a pair of critical free throws in the final 11 seconds to lift the Scarlet Raiders to a 54-51 upset win over #5/7 Kean University in the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals on Wednesday evening.
The Scarlet Raiders (19-8) seek their first NJAC title in program history and will face William Paterson University on Saturday, February 26th, in the NJAC Championship Game.
Junior guard Noel Mathis (pictured left) had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (22-4), as Kean now awaits the NCAA Tournament selections.
The Cougars took their largest of the game in the early minutes, as sophomore guard Naimah Clemons knocked down a three-pointer for a 7-2 advantage just 2:09 into the game. The Scarlet Raiders answered, as Coleman scored the first eight straight points of a 14-2 run for Rutgers-Newark to build a 16-9 lead with 13:06 remaining.
Kean responded with seven straight points to tie the game on a lay-up by Mathis, however Rutgers-Newark extended the lead back out to seven points at 23-16 and again at 25-18. The Cougars followed with six straight points to trim the deficit back to 25-24, before Rutgers-Newark built its largest lead of the half with the 34-26 lead at the break.
Coleman netted 16 of her points in the first half, hitting 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Clemons led the Cougars with nine points, while Mathis had seven points, five rebounds and three steals.
In the second half, Rutgers-Newark opened with an 8-1 run to open up a 15-point lead at 42-27 following a pair of free throws from junior guard Jared Tactuk with 15:32 remaining in the half.
Kean battled back, holding the Scarlet Raiders scoreless over the next nine minutes of the contest, as the Cougars posted a 17-0 run to take a 44-42 lead with 7:46 left. Mathis led the Cougars with eight points in the run, while the Kean defense forced the Scarlet Raiders into seven turnovers and 0-of-10 shooting from the floor.
The Scarlet Raiders ended the drought with a lay-up by junior guard Brittany Smith with 6:38 left and regained the lead on a jumper by Coleman 50 seconds later. Kean again tied the game at 46-46 on a lay-up by senior forward Tiffany Patrick and each team had a chance to regain the lead over the next two minutes of action before Rutgers-Newark freshman guard ShaQuanna Marshall put the Scarlet Raiders ahead for good with a lay-up with 2:34 left.
Coleman extended the lead to 50-46 with a jumper with just under a minute to go and sophomore guard Kristen Venning added 1-of-2 free throws to give Rutgers-Newark the five-point lead with 21 seconds left.
With 14 seconds remaining, Mathis went to the line for a pair of free throws, and after making the first, Patrick grabbed the offensive board off the miss on the second and made the putback to pull the Cougars back to within 51-49 with just 12 seconds remaining. Kean fouled Coleman on the ensuing possession and she knocked down both to extend the lead back to 53-49 with 11 seconds left.
Kean freshman guard Emily Cristaldi had a jumper from the top of the key with 1.8 seconds remaining to pull the Cougars back to within a basket and Marshall virtually sealed the win with the first of two free throws with 0.5 seconds left on the clock to send Rutgers-Newark to its first NJAC Championship game.
Patrick, who was named NJAC co-Player of the Year earlier in the day, was limited to just four points on 2-of-6 shooting and four rebounds, as she played just five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. Clemons (pictured right) added 13 points for Kean, while senior forward Angelica Bermudez had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench.
In the victory, Smith finished with nine points and seven rebounds, while Venning had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.