Despite Opening Loss, Coach King Sees Positives Moving Forward

By Dorian Alerte | Published by November 12, 2021

Despite the 89-54 loss against New York University to open their season, Kean women’s basketball’s head coach Mandy King remains positive about her team starting off the season.

For the first time since the 2019-2020 season, the Cougars played in front of home fans, a feeling that King will not forget.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” she said. “They were very respectful of the quality of play by NYU. I am so thrilled with the student body here and the student-athletes. I feel so supported by our students, our families, and this is just the beginning of something very special.”

NYU led the game from start to finish against the Cougars, beginning with a 24-point opening quarter. The Violets had the attention and respect of Coach King after they did not have a 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You have to give huge praise to NYU,” King said. “That team is so talented and works so hard. They did not play last year during the pandemic, so to be able to come in here in their first game and to be able to perform like that, I have so much respect for their players and their coaching staff.”

Neither side was able to score early until NYU shooting guard Erica Miller made back-to-back three-pointers to open the scoring. Following in her lead, Kean guard Shannon McCoy made a three-pointer of her own to open the scoring for the Cougars.

Despite trailing, the Cougars continued fighting. They had a late first-half run, sparked by two of their freshman players- Suzy Ndandji and Maddison Vaughn. Upon subbing into the game, Ndandji would immediately draw a foul and shoot the first free throws of her collegiate career. With under one minute left in the half, Vaughn would recover her offensive rebound and also record two layups for the first points of her career as well.

“It was great,” King said. “Not only at half time, but at the end of the game, one of our senior captains really gave praise to them for the minutes that they put in. They were so productive. It says a lot about their ability to perform under pressure and they have an incredible amount of potential.”

Late in the third quarter, a scary site occurred when senior center Aniyah Moore was fouled and landed awkwardly on her knee. Writhing on the floor in pain, an injury timeout was called and Moore was attended to. She was then carried off of the floor to the trainer’s table by the trainer and fellow teammate Kayla Anderson. 

Anderson, who would eventually shoot a free throw on behalf of and after Moore’s injury, plus another seven, scored all 12 of her points in the second half.

“As soon as Aniyah went down and we saw how much she was in pain, I yelled over to Kayla to go over to Aniyah right away,” King said. “They’ve been through everything. They know each other like sisters. We talked about having Aniyah’s back and Kayla took that to heart.”

The Cougars would go on one more late run to start the fourth quarter. McCoy on back-to-back possessions hit three-pointers bringing NYU’s lead to only thirteen. When the three-pointers went in, the entire crowd and bench exploded out of their seats.

“When Shannon hit those big threes, that felt like Kean basketball,” King said. “Not just because she made the shot, but everyone celebrating it. It felt like we were back and better than before. We felt like we had a chance at that point. This team has a lot of heart and a lot of resiliency. When we make a run like that we feel like we can’t be beaten.”

The 0-1 Cougars will look to turn around the start of the season when they take on Marymount University on the road in Arlington, Virginia, before returning home to play in the Kean Classic tournament on Nov. 12 and 13.

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