Kean Captures 13th NJAC Title;
Advance to NCAA Tourney
UNION, N.J. (2/27/10) - The Kean University
women's basketball team captured the program's 13th New
Jersey Athletic Conference Championship, defeating #8 William
Paterson University, 70-62, at Harwood Arena on Saturday
evening.
The #2 Cougars (26-1) won their school-record 26th
straight game and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA
Division III women's basketball tournament. Sophomore guard
Brittany Powell (Tinton Falls, N.J.) came off the
bench to score 16 points, while junior forward Tiffany
Patrick (Piscataway, N.J.) had a double-double with 16
points and 15 rebounds for the Cougars, who have won three of the
last four NJAC titles.
William Paterson (25-2) suffers just their second loss of the
season, both at the hands of the Cougars, despite 16 points from
senior guard Julie Haledjian (Montvale, N.J.).
It is also the second time in the last four seasons Kean has
defeated the Pioneers in the NJAC title game, with the Cougars
winning the first of their back-to-back championships in
2006-07.
In the opening half, the Pioneers scored the first four points
of the game and took a 9-4 lead less than three minutes into the
contest. The Cougars trimmed the lead to 9-8 and would take a
13-11 lead on a three-pointer by freshman Naimah Clemons
(Newark, N.J.) with 11:42 to go in the half. The
lead would seesaw back and forth with eight more lead changes and
four ties, before Patrick scored the final four points of the half
to give Kean a 36-33 lead at the break.
Patrick, the NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, had nine points,
six rebounds and two blocks in the opening half, while Powell
knocked down three-of-four from beyond the arc for nine points off
the bench.
The Cougars would use a 15-4 run, capped by nine straight
points, to take a 55-44 lead with 8:17 remaining and would again
lead by 11 at 64-53 on a three-pointer by Powell with 5:08 to
go. William Paterson answered with five straight points,
pulling to within six points on a lay-up by Haledjian with just
under three minutes remaining, and would get as close as four
points at 66-62 just 65 seconds left, however the Cougars would hit
4-of-6 free throws in the final 32 seconds to seal the championship
win and advance to the NCAA tournament for the 14th time
in program history.
Junior forward Angelica Bermudez (Jersey City,
N.J.) hit 6-of-8 shots from the floor and had 14 points
and six rebounds off the bench for Kean, while Clemons, who won
NJAC Rookie of the Year earlier in the week, finished with 14
points. Kean senior guard Melissa Beyruti (Union
City, N.J.), the NJAC Player of the Year and the NCAA
all-time leader in three-point field goals made, was held scoreless
before leaving the game with under 10 minutes to go with an
injury.
For William Paterson, sophomore guard BriAnna Lucas
(Hamilton, N.J.) hit 11-of-14 from the foul line, but just
1-of-12 from the field to finish with 13 points, while junior
forward Absatu Mustapha (Somerset, N.J.) came off the
bench to score 10 points. Senior guard Erin Cook
(Princeton, N.J.) chipped in with 14 points and eight
rebounds.
The Cougars await the announcement of the NCAA tournament field
on Monday, March 1, with games starting on Friday, March
5th.
