Jersey City, NJ: The New Jersey City University women's basketball team defeated Ramapo College, 55-42 in NJAC action. The Gothic Knights move to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the NJAC while the Roadrunners now stand at 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
A jumper from Alison Ahern with 7:42 on the clock in the second quarter started a 9-0 run that gave the Roadrunners an 18-15 lead. Ahern strung together seven points during the run while Bailey Murrell added two. A NJCU basket, a free throw from Damiya Graham and a basket from Ahern gave the Roadrunners a 21-17 lead with less than 3:30 on the clock. Ramapo scored the final three points of the quarter as they went into the locker room with a 23-20 lead.
In the third quarter, NJCU held Ramapo to just five points as they built a 33-28 lead heading into the final quarter of action. A 7-0 run from NJCU to start the fourth quarter gave the Gothic Knights a 40-28 lead with less than 8:30 left to play in the game. Lauren Flatt snapped the run with a jumper before NJCU tallied one of their own for a 42-30 lead with 7:35 on the clock. Murrell started a 6-0 run by the Roadrunners to cut the lead with 5:34 on the clock which forced a timeout by NJCU. Kenda Rigo scored back-to-back baskets for NJCU before Ramapo's Ahern put in a layup for the Roadrunners, 38-46. With 1:21 remaining, Elyssa Russo sank a jumper for NJCU while Ahern tallied her 17th point of the game on a basket on the other end for the Roadrunners, 40-48. NJCU went to the free throw line with 1:05 on the clock and only converted one for a 49-40 lead. Autumn John scored back-to-back baskets for the Gothic Knights for a 53-40 lead before Graham converted a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining. Luisa Montalvo scored the final basket for either team as NJCU came away with the 55-42 NJAC victory.
The Gothic Knights were led by John who recorded eight points and pulled down a team high 11 rebounds while Rigo, Destiny Battle and Na'tori Postell each recorded eight points in the game. NJCU forced 40 Roadrunners turnovers which led to 25 points for the Gothic Knights. The team shot 23% (20-84) from the field, 12% (3-25) from the three-point line and 57% (12-21) from the free throw line.
Ahern led the Roadrunners with 17 points for a new season high while she added 11 rebounds. Graham added seven points and Lauren Flatt posted a new career high of 13 rebounds while adding six points. The team shot 34% (17-49) from the field and 38% (8-21) from the free throw line.
The Roadrunners return to action on Wednesday, December 4th when they host Kean University in a NJAC game at the Bradley Center at 5:30 PM.