GALLOWAY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's basketball team, the two-time defending New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) champions, have officially clinched a bye into the semifinal round of the 2023 NJAC Tournament following the Gothic Knights' 63-52 road victory over Stockton University this afternoon, Saturday, Feb. 11. Following NJCU's regular-season finale at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Wednesday, Feb. 15, Jersey City will host a NJAC Semifinal at the JMAC on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

In today's game, the Gothic Knights (13-10, 13-4 NJAC) were once again led by junior guard Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) and her team-best 22 points, game-high five assists and six rebounds against the Ospreys (12-12, 7-10 NJAC) for her 18th consecutive 20-point game — and 20th out of 22 games this season. Joining her in double figures scoring for the Green and Gold was senior guard Jada Camacho (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), who chipped in 13 points.

Stockton took control early and outscored NJCU 18-15 in the first quarter — overall, the Ospreys outscored the Gothic Knights in three of the four quarters. However, it was the massive second quarter for Jersey City that led to the eventual victory, as NJCU outscored Stockton 24-7 over that 10-minute period. NJCU did build up a brief four-point, 14-10 lead with just over two minutes to go in the first, but an 8-1 run by the Ospreys closed out the quarter with the home team up by three.

Camacho drew a foul beyond the arc to start the second and sank all three shots to tie it up and then Rodriguez and sophomore center Liyah Allen (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) each sank a bucket to put NJCU back up by four at 22-18 with 6:33 to go until the half. The Ospreys managed to tie it back up at 22-22 with 5:18 to go and then at that point, the Gothic Knights exploded with a 17-3 run to end the first half. Rodriguez had seven points over that stretch — including a pair of free throws following a tech foul on the Ospreys with 51 seconds to go — while freshman forward Jalynn Clark (Irvington, N.J./Elizabeth) scored four of her eight points on the day.

Stockton got back to within eight at points in the third quarter, but the Gothic Knights closed out 30 minutes of play with a 12-point, 52-40 lead. The Ospreys once again got it back to single digits to start the fourth with a three, but that was as close as they would get as NJCU stretched its advantage out to double digits once again by as many as 13 on a few occasions before coming away with the 11-point win to officially secure a top-two seed in this year's NJAC Tournament.

Highlights:
- Clark added three boards and two blocks to her day, while Allen finished with six points, three boards and a block.
- Junior center Jimmirah Johnson (Prospect Park, N.J./International) saw 21 minutes in the start and led all players with nine rebounds to go with five points.
- Junior guard Jade-Dee Tolentino (West New York, N.J./Memorial) came off the bench for 16 minutes and chipped in four points, six rebounds and a steal.

Up Next:
As mentioned, the Gothic Knights return to action on Coach Charlie Brown Court on Wednesday night — Senior Night — as Rutgers-Camden comes to the West Side for a 6:00 p.m. tipoff to close the regular-season.