Kean Women’s basketball goes on magical run, falls short in NJAC finals

By Craig Epstein | Published on March 29, 2019

In front of a filled-to-capacity crowd at The Golden Dome at Rutgers-Newark, the Kean Women’s basketball team gave the fourth seeded Red Raiders everything that they could handle before ultimately falling short in the finals of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament by a final score of 54-47 in overtime.

Being only the second sixth seed to ever make it to the NJAC finals, the Cougars went through a difficult journey and battled some of the toughest teams that the conference had to offer in Montclair State, Rowan University, and Rutgers-Newark.

“Coming in as the sixth seed we knew we were going to have to work harder and that we weren’t going to have the home court advantage,” freshman point guard Shannon McCoy said. “Facing Montclair in the first round was going to be tough but we didn’t let it get to us. Knocking off the team that has won the NJAC for the past six years was a pretty good feeling but we weren’t done yet.”

Ending the regular season with a 12-13 record (9-9 NJAC), the Cougars knew that they were fortunate just to be able to make the NJAC tournament. They were determined to make the most of that good fortune though and were able to ride out their new-found momentum all the way to the conference finals.

“The journey to the NJAC championship was not easy, it required hard work, consistency, and the ‘all in’ mentality,” junior guard Payce Lange said. “The NJAC conference is highly competitive but my team and I had that exact mentality we needed to go all the way.”

Unlike the match-up with Montclair, the Cougars faced Rowan with revenge on their minds considering they were one of two conference teams that they hadn’t beaten yet. And in what ended up being a nail-biter until the final buzzer, senior Danielle Oakley sank two free throws with one second left in overtime to ensure the 77-71 win for Kean and punch their ticket to the NJAC championship game.

As a captain, Oakley played a huge role in providing leadership for the team all season long. Combining that with the heart and grit that the rest of the team had, Head Coach Mandy King was incredibly proud of her squad and the season that they had.

“We had a tremendous season because of the heart and leadership of our senior captain Danielle Oakley, the toughness and unselfishness of our core group of returning players, and the energy and passion of our new girls,” King said. “Our team chemistry was the best it has ever been because our girls truly love and care about one another. It’s about something much bigger than basketball.”

For King, having such a magical run was one of the greatest experiences she has had as a coach thus far in her career.

“Our run through the NJAC tournament and into the championship game was one of the most magical experiences I have ever had as a coach,” King said. “Our girls played with heart and toughness and fought so hard for each other and for Kean University.”

In front of a raucous crowd of 653 people, the Cougars and Red Raiders battled until the bitter end where Rutgers-Newark ultimately prevailed to earn their first NJAC championship and NCAA Tournament berth in program history.

Although coming out on the losing end was a tough pill to swallow for the Cougars, King feels that they can learn from this journey and come back even better and stronger in the years to come.

“We are all incredibly disappointed that we fell short,” King said. “But we will use this as fuel to do what is necessary to make certain that we win the 2020 NJAC Championship and cut down the nets in Harwood Arena.”

For her incredible play, McCoy was named the NJAC Rookie of the Year in addition to earning first-team honors. The Barnegat native becomes just the eighth Cougar in program history to be named Rookie of the Year as well as the second to earn it while also being named to the first-team.

“Being named NJAC Rookie of the Year and a first-team honoree is a huge accomplishment,” McCoy said. “Coming into this season I didn’t expect to have the season I did.”

Although she fell short of her ultimate goal of winning an NJAC championship, McCoy feels that this season is not only one that the team can use to learn from, but build upon in her coming seasons as well.

“I’ve never been part of a team that wanted it as much as we did and was so determined to get there,” McCoy said. “Us not giving up was the key to what got us so far and will also be the key to why myself and the team will succeed in these next three years.”

In addition to McCoy, Lange also earned conference recognition by being named an NJAC honorable mention. As much of an honor that it was for the Tewksbury native, she feels motivated to receive an even higher achievement next season.

“Getting chosen for honorable mention was an honor to have my hard work acknowledged by the opposing coaches in the NJAC,” Lange said. “However, it emboldens me to be recognized next year on an even higher achievement level.”

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