JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's basketball team continued its hot play on Saturday, Jan. 14, earning its fourth consecutive win in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play over Stockton University, 59-56, at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC).

  

Jersey City (6-8, 6-3 NJAC) opened up with a slow start as Stockton (8-8, 3-6 NJAC) led 8-0 with 6:38 left in the first. Over the next four minutes, the Green and Gold started to find their stride as NJCU outscored the Ospreys 8-2 and cut the score to 10-8. Despite the strong effort to trim the deficit, Stockton ended the quarter with a 6-0 run and led 16-8 after the first 10 minutes.
 
The second saw NJCU come to life and take its first lead of the game with 2:04 left in the half after senior guard Jada Camacho (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) converted on a free throw attempt to make the score 21-20. The Gothic Knights played stellar defense to close out the half, only allowing two points while scoring seven in the closing two minutes. At the break, NJCU led the Ospreys 28-22 after outscoring them 20-6 in the quarter.
 
The second half was highlighted exclusively by junior guard Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus), who collected 16 of her game-high 28 points during that span, including three crucial three-point makes to keep the momentum in NJCU's favor. At the end of the third, NJCU led Stockton 42-32. However, in the fourth the Ospreys commanded a 24-14 run to tie the game up at 56-56 with two seconds left on the clock.
 
With no time to spare and one chance left to win the game in regulation, NJCU did just that as Rodriguez converted arguably the most important field goal of her Gothic Knights season. She drained an off-balance jump shot, while drawing a foul, with less than a second left on the clock to seal the game for NJCU at 59-56 after converting the and-one opportunity.
 

 
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to action this Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Panzer Athletic Center in Montclair, N.J. as they travel to Montclair State University for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off, with the men's game to follow. NJCU topped the Red Hawks 66-48 to open conference play at home on Nov. 22 in the first matchup earlier in the season.
 
Milestone Watch:
Additionally for Rodriguez, after scoring a career-high 34 points on the road against Rowan University on Jan. 4, along with a 21-point performance this past Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Rutgers-Camden, her 28-point performance in today's contest leaves her just eight shy of scoring 1,000 for her career. She would become the first player to score 1,000 points exclusively with NJCU women's basketball since 2007.