Women’s Basketball Edged out by Washington, 62-59, at Dunagan Classic
SALEM, Va. — The New Jersey City University women’s basketball team faced Washington College (Md.) on the first day of the 2022 Susan Dunagan Holiday Classic, hosted by Roanoke College, on Thursday evening, December 29. The Knights Gothic tied the game at 54-54 against the Shorewomen with just 2:37 left in regulation, but couldn’t pull away and fell to Washington, 62-59. Junior guard Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) scored 26 points in a game-best effort.
NJCU (2-7) and the Shorewomen (7-3) were tight throughout the first quarter. Washington led by as many as five early, but Jersey City managed to crawl to an 11-11 tie after one quarter of play — nine of those 11 first-quarter points for the Gothic Knights came from Rodriguez. To start the second quarter, the Green and Gold twice took three-point leads. Senior guard Jasmine Reese (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) started with a three-point play to put her team up by three at 14-11. Then, in her NJCU debut, junior guard Jade-Dee Tolentino (Western New York, NJ/Memorial) sank a shot at 8:02 to put Jersey City back up by three at 16-13. Less than a minute later, Reese once again put her team up three with a jumper at 7:24 to make it 18-15.
Washington cut the lead to one at 7:12 and then tied it with a free throw at 6:01 to make it 18-18 before the Shorewomen extended their lead to six points with just 1:20 remaining. in half, splitting. a pair of free throws to make it 30-24. Two foul shots and a block by sophomore forward Liyah Allen (Hillside, NJ/Hillside), followed by a transition jumper by Rodriguez as time expired, allowed NJCU to cut the lead to two at 30-28 after halftime. the game.
The third quarter saw Washington regain control and eventually take a seven-point lead into the game at 39-32 with 1:32 left in the period. Rodriguez immediately answered for NJCU with a three to cut it to four and senior forward Janari Newsome (Newark, NJ/Technology) followed with a layup of her own to make it a one-point, 39-38 Shorewomen lead. Washington sank a jumper with 30 seconds left to take a three-point lead into the fourth.
Rodriguez started the fourth with three more to tie the game at 41-41 with 8:14 to play. She later hit a three at 7:27 followed by a bucket down by sophomore forward Jalynn Clark (Irvington, NJ/Elizabeth) at 6:56 – she returned from injury tonight after not playing in nearly a month – for giving NJCU a one point lead, 46-45. The Shorewomen tied it up and took the lead several more times over the next four minutes before a layup by junior center Jimmirah Johnson (Prospect Park, NJ/International) and a pair of free throws by senior guard Jada Camacho (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) tied it at 54-54 with just 2:37 left.
Johnson cut it to two at 58-56 as Washington took another lead, but that was as close as NJCU would get for the rest of the contest.
Main points:
– Rodriguez added seven rebounds, a season- and game-best five steals and two assists in a game-high 40 minutes on the floor.
– Reese and junior forward Kyara Cowan (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) each scored six points. Reese led NJCU with a season-high nine rebounds, as well.
Next time:
NJCU returns to the court tomorrow night, Friday, December 30, for a 5:00 pm tip against Eastern University. The Eagles fell to host Roanoke earlier today, 66-46.
