JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's basketball team has made program history, winning its first-ever home New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament game tonight, Friday, March 5, in the friendly confines of The John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC). The Gothic Knights, seeded third in the Tournament, and William Paterson, seeded sixth, battled back and forth all night long before NJCU blew the game open in the second half — leading by as many as 12 — en route to the 68-60 victory.

The Gothic Knights (7-2, 6-2 NJAC) were led by a trio of rookies — all of whom earned the start — as well as another strong veteran performance. Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) poured in a game-high 23 points to go with a game-high-tying five assists. Nahjeemah Holmes (Elizabeth, NJ/John E. Dwyer Tech) finished with 14 points, six boards and a game-best four steals. Briana Davis (Bronx, NY/Lincoln (via County Prep)) led all players with five blocks and added a career-high 11 points and seven rebounds. Rounding it out was Dayjah Anderson (East Orange, NJ/Newark Tech) who notched a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

After a slow first, in which NJCU took the 10-6 lead after 10:00 of play against the Pioneers (2-7, 2-6 NJAC), both teams' offenses came to life. William Paterson started the second on an 8-0 run to take the 14-10 lead, which it held onto until the 6:27 mark at 16-12. The Gothic Knights then used a 7-0 run of their own to jump back into the lead, all of which came from Anderson, Rodriguez and Holmes to make it 19-16 with 4:46 left until the half. WPU eventually fought its way back once again and took another four-point lead on the strength of a 9-2 run to make it 27-23 with 1:50 left. However, NJCU closed the quarter with a 5-0 run to take the one-point, 28-27 advantage into the lockeroom. Davis was able to maintain that advantage with a nice block in the closing seconds of the quarter.

After stretching their run to 9-2, the Gothic Knights briefly allowed the Pioneers to make it a close once again as the road team eventually tied it at 32-32 with 7:10 left in the third quarter. Neither team scored for nearly two minutes before NJCU went on another 9-2 run to take a seven-point, 41-34 lead with 3:09 left until the game's final quarter. The Gothic Knights eventually stretched that to an eight-point lead and took the 46-38 advantage into the fourth.

Thanks to some continued strong offensive play, coupled with extensive defensive pressure on the ball, NJCU was able to take a game-high 12-point lead on two occasions early in the fourth quarter. The first came on a nice three-point play from Davis. After the Pioneers trimmed it back to a 10-point gap, Holmes hit the offensive glass and put back a nice lay-in to make it 56-44 with 7:43 remaining in regulation. The Gothic Knights maintained at minimum a five-point lead the rest of the game before coming away with the eight-point victory.

What's Next:
NJCU now advances to the semifinal round of the NJAC Tournament, scheduled to play next weekend on Friday, March 12, or Saturday, March 13. The #1 overall seed Montclair State University will host one of the semifinal contests after its quarterfinal blowout of Rutgers-Camden tonight. The Gothic Knights now await tomorrow afternoon's, Saturday, March 6, quarterfinal matchup between #2 The College of New Jersey and #7 Stockton University. Should the Ospreys upset the Lions, NJCU would earn the right to host the other semifinal contest next weekend against Stockton. However, if TCNJ wins, the Gothic Knights would be headed down to Ewing, N.J.