EWING, N.J. – Move over Kansas City Chiefs; there is a new dynasty in town and they hail from the West Side of Jersey City. For the third time in four seasons, the New Jersey City University women's basketball team has been crowned New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) champions. The Gothic Knights – seeded #2 in the 2024 NJAC Tournament – handled top-seeded The College of New Jersey on the road on Friday night, Feb. 23, by a final of 65-52 and are now headed to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in program history.
The first started off all TCNJ (18-9, 14-4 NJAC), with the Lions forcing several NJCU (19-8, 14-4 NJAC) turnovers and getting out to a 6-0 lead with 7:29 to go. Rather than calling a timeout, head coach Pat Devaney, Sr. let his squad fight through the slow start. Trailing 8-2 with 6:18 remaining in the quarter, the Gothic Knights proceeded to go on a 16-7 run, forcing three TCNJ turnovers in the process. NJCU took the 18-17 lead into the next quarter, including nine points from senior guard Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) and seven more from sophomore guard Tahirah Kelley (Linden, N.J./Immaculate Conception).
The second was all Green and Gold as the visitors outscored TCNJ, 19-9, to take a 37-26 lead into the half. NJCU started off the quarter on an 11-3 run and then extended that to a 17-5 stretch to go up 35-22 with 2:29 to go. Overall, Rodriguez scored eight more in the quarter to end the half with 17, while Kelley chipped in six more to total 13 over the first 20 minutes of play.
NJCU looked to continue its momentum in the third and did so with the first five points of the quarter to go up 42-26 with 7:08 to go. However, the Lions then exploded for their strong stretch of the night, an 11-1 run to cut it back to single digits at 43-37 with 4:05 left in the third. Once again, rather than calling a timeout, Devaney allowed his squad to climb out of the funk and take control of the game. The Gothic Knights answered with a 7-0 run to go back up by 13 at 50-37 with 1:34 on the clock before taking the 50-38 advantage into the fourth.
Jersey City started off the final quarter with a 10-3 run to go back up by 19 points at 60-41, getting a couple of buckets from junior guard Alaisha Mumford (Jersey City, N.J./Lincoln) and Rodriguez in the process. The Lions, however, were not done yet and went on a 9-1 run to cut it back to an 11-point game at 61-50 with 2:11 to go. That was as close as TCNJ would get, as the Gothic Knights came away with the 13-point win.
Highlights:
- Rodriguez led all players with 26 points to go with four assists, a game-high-tying three steals and three boards.
- Kelley was the game's second-leading scorer with 17 points to go with four boards, two blocks and an assist.
- Senior forward Sarah Edmond (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) led all players with 11 rebounds – including nine on the defensive end – and also blocked two shots to go with four points, two assists and a steal.
- Mumford chipped in nine points, eight rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist, while senior forward Dayjah Anderson (East Orange, NJ/Newark Tech) had eight rebounds, three points and a steal.
Up Next:
With the victory, NJCU earned the auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Gothic Knights now await the selection show, which airs on NCAA.com on Monday afternoon, Feb. 26, at 2:30 p.m. Once they learn where they are in the bracket, the Green and Gold will compete in the First Round at a to-be-determined location on Friday, March 1. Should they win that matchup, the Second Round will be on Saturday, March 2.