SOURCE: https://njcugothicknights.com/news/2019/2/2/201902-02_WBASKETBALL_at_Stockton.aspx

GALLOWAY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | For the second straight game, the New Jersey City University women's basketball team struggled to get its offense going. Stockton University limited NJCU to 27.0 percent shooting and used a balanced offensive attack to pull out a 61-46 victory New Jersey Athletic Conference win at the Stockton Sports Center on February 2.
 
NJCU (4-18, 1-14 NJAC) has tallied its two lowest point totals of the 2019 calendar year in their past two outings. Stockton improved to 7-15 (4-11 NJAC), getting redemption on NJCU for the Gothic Knights' 68-67 win over the Ospreys in Jersey City on January 5.
 
For the second straight game, the NJAC's all-time leading scorer, senior point guard Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) was held to a new season-low, this time tallying a career-low three points in just 19 minutes. Bacon was limited all game with foul trouble and a defensive game plan set to thwart her looks. The only other game in Bacon's career where she failed to reach double figures was December 20, 2016 while playing for Kean against Crown College when she scored nine points (4-9 FG) in 23 minutes.
 
In her stead, freshman wing Teresa Ortiz (Newark, N.J./University) had a game-high 16 points (4-11 FG), while Miesha Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) posted an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double (with three steals) for her fifth double-double of the season.
 
For Stockton, three players scored in double digits, five players score at least seven points, and 11 players got on the score sheet with at least a point. The Ospreys shot 42.1 percent from the field, and their 11 steals more than doubled NJCU's five thefts—an identity swap of sorts for the two teams; it tied for a season-low for NJCU.
 
It was a strange game from the jump for the Knights, who came into the game hoping for a potential season sweep of Stockton, but they fell into a quick 11-0 hole, while their top scorer picked up two fouls in the process.
 
Ortiz scored a quick five points to cut the margin nearly in half, however, and the Knights chipped away to get the lead down to just three by the end of the first quarter (13-10).
 
A layup from freshman Zyearah Taylor-Gaston (Jersey City, NJ/Marist (via St. Anthony)) at the 7:50 mark of the second quarter brought the Knights to within one (15-14), but that was as close as the Knights would get, as Stockton scored the next 11, holding NJCU off the board for a lengthy 6:38. Stockton went into the break up 29-20.
 
The Knights continued their trend of coming out cold to start quarters in the third, as they didn't score their first points from the field until more than half the quarter had passed. Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) also picked up her fourth foul late in the quarter, forcing the Knights talisman to the bench once again.
 
The Ospreys pushed their lead to as large as 18 early in the fourth, and that margin proved more than enough to hold NJCU at bay for the remainder of the game.
 
Sophomore guard Natalie Miller (New Milford, N.J.) was the leading scorer for the Ospreys, with 13 points, while Molly Collins (Lacey Township, N.J.) chipped in a dozen in just 16 minutes, and senior forward April Peterson (Lafayette, N.J.) had the best overall game, with an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. Emily Donzanti (Toms River, N.J.) had seven points and a game-high seven assists.
 
NOTABLES:

• Series: 65th meeting, Stockton leads 51-14.
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) now has 2,108 career points, 37th in Division III history. Full list: http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w_basketball_RB/2019/D3.pdf
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) saw her scoring average drop to 23.7 points per game. She still leads the NJAC in scoring but will likely drop to seventh in the country in points per game. Her steals per game also dropped, down to 4.4 steals per game on the season, where she ranks third in the country.
• Teresa Ortiz (Newark, N.J./University) has now posted double-digit point totals in five of her six career games at NJCU. Her four made threes tied a career-high.
• Miesha Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) posted her fifth double-double of the 2018-19 season for the Knights.
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) has now scored in double figures 88 times in 90 career games between Kean (2015-18, 67 times in 68 games) and NJCU (21 times in 22 games). Other updated career totals for Bacon:
  • 20-Point Games: 60 (44 at Kean, 16 at NJCU)
  • 25-Point Games: 41 (30 at Kean, 11 at NJCU)
  • 30-Point Games: 21 (16 at Kean, five at NJCU)
  • 35-Point Games: 10 (eight at Kean, two at NJCU)
  • 40-Point Games: 5 (four at Kean; career high, 46 at NJCU)
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) now needs 100 points over the final three games of the season to surpass Monique Hemingway's record of 620 points in 24 games in 1988-89. She would need to average 33.3 per game the rest of the year to reach the mark.
• Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) is chasing multiple single-season NJCU records. Here are all updates through game 21 of the 2018-19 season.

Points
1.    620    Monique Hemingway (24 games)     - 1988-89
2.    521    Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) (22 games)     - 2018-19
3.    462    Chris Mosca (22 games)     - 1980-81
4.    461    Doris Nicholson (27 games)     - 1988-89
5.    443    Tara Mitchell (23 games)     - 1997-98
 
Scoring average (minimum 10 games)
1.    25.8    Monique Hemingway     (24 games)    1988-89
2.    23.7    Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune)     (22 games)    2018-19
3.    21.0    Chris Mosca     (22 games)    1980-81
4.    20.7    Patrice Hurt     (13 games)    1984-85
5.    19.3    Tara Mitchell     (23 games)    1997-98
 
Field goals made
1.    241    Monique Hemingway (24 games)     - 1988-89
2.    205    Doris Nicholson (27 games)     - 1988-89
3.    189    Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) (22 games)     - 2018-19
4.    173    Doris Nicholson (22 games)     - 1987-88
5.    172    Tara Mitchell (23 games)     - 1997-98
 
Field goals attempted
1.    540    Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) (22 games)     - 2018-19
2.    477    Monique Hemingway (24 games)     - 1988-89
3.    430    Tara Mitchell (23 games)     - 1997-98
4.    404    Lashawn Overton (22 games)     - 2008-09
5.    403    Ebony Cunningham (23 games)     - 2009-10
 
Free throws made
1.    154    Chris Mosca (22 games)     - 1980-81
2.    138    Monique Hemingway (24 games)     - 1988-89
3.    135    Bria Smith (25 games)     - 2014-15
4.    104    Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) (22 games)     - 2018-19
5.    99    Tara Mitchell (23 games)     - 1997-98
 
Steals average (minimum 10 games)
1.    5.4    Latrese McNair     (27 games)    2004-05
2.    5.1    Latrese McNair     (24 games)    2005-06
3.    4.4    Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune)     (22 games)    2018-19
4.    4.4    Latrese McNair     (25 games)    2006-07
5.    4.0    Monique Hemingway     (21 games)    1984-85
 
UP NEXT:

• The Knights host the top team in the NJAC, The College of New Jersey (14-8, 12-3 NJAC). In the first matchup between the two this season, NJCU held their own in a tough road battle, falling 72-65 on December 12.

 
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