Women’s basketball fails at second game of NJAC tournament
By Gerald Lima
The Kean University Women’s Basketball team put on a display, blowing out the Richard Stockton Ospreys 79-53 in the opening round of the NJAC tournament.
However, the Cougars team that trailed 38-37 in the first half, wasn’t the same team that came out of the locker room in
the second half.
The Cougars went on two dominating runs in the second half, the first run consisted of outscoring the Ospreys 11-4 and the second a 10-0 run, which put the game away with only 6 minutes left.
In Kean’s second round game against Montclair State, Senior Center Simone Smith led the Cougars with 16 points, but that wasn’t enough for the Cougars who fell short to the top seeded Red Hawks, 76-62.
The Cougars loss to the Red Hawks was the second in 10 days, and it also was the Red Hawks’ first NJAC tournament win over the Cougars after trying seven
times before.
The Cougars started the game hot, leading 11-1 to start the game, and eventually took a 16-7 lead early in the first half.
The Cougars had a 28-17 lead with about nine minutes left in the first half, but the Red Hawks went on a 23-5 run to end the first half to make the score 40-33 in favor of Montclair State.
The Cougars kept tugging at the lead and came within nine points, but Red Hawks’ sophomore guard, Kayla Ceballos hit a clutch three-pointer, which put the Red Hawks back up by 12.
The Cougars didn’t get any closer for the rest of the game.
The Cougars will be one of the teams for consideration for a spot in the ECAC tournament. The teams selected for the ECAC will be announced on March 3.