Ewing, N.J. (12/4/13) – Rookie Jaquetta Owens hit a layup with just five seconds left in regulation to force overtime, but The College of New Jersey surged in the extra period topping Kean, 95-83.
TCNJ outscored the Cougars, 22-10 in the final five minutes, including 11 points from the charity stripe. With the win the Lions remained perfect in conference play and moved to 4-2 overall, while Kean dropped to 4-3 and 2-1 in the NJAC.
Owens had an outstanding game, scoring 17 points and dishing out 13 assists. She hit 7-of-8 shots from the floor and also had four steals. Senior center Simone Smith (pictured left) led all scorers with 29 points, while junior guard AnnaRose Pierre finished with 11 points.
Senior Kelly Roddy scored nine points in extra period and tallied a career-best 20 points in the win. She also collected 11 rebounds to register a double-double on the evening. Sophomore Angelica Esposito and junior Kelly Coughlin also notched career-highs with 17 points each. Junior Kylie O'Donnell added 15 points and led the Lions with six assists.
In a match-up that featured the second and third-ranked offenses in the NJAC, it took a season-high 95 points for the Lions to come away with the win. They led the majority of the contest, but Kean battled back in the second half to send the game into overtime.
TCNJ came out aggressive in the opening half, forcing 14 turnovers while committing just three. They capitalized off those mistakes, scoring 19 points off turnovers. The game itself got off to a quick start as both teams were effective early on. The lead changed seven times in the opening half, all of which came in the first eight minutes. A 3-point field goal by Coughlin gave the Lions a 14-12 lead with 13:06 to play, forcing a Cougar timeout. With the game tied at 14, senior Liz West found O'Donnell cutting underneath as she banked in a layup to take the lead. West then dropped in a basket underneath while being fouled and converted her free throw to put TCNJ in command.
After Owens responded with a three-pointer, the Lions rolled to a 10-0 run. Freshman Kate Amato scored her first basket of the night followed by Coughlin's third three-pointer of the half. Amato then connected on a short jumper before Roddy picked off a Cougar pass and fed Coughlin for an easy layup to push the lead to 30-19 with seven minutes remaining in the period. Amato finished with eight points as TCNJ headed into intermission with a 42-29 advantage.
Kean came out with energy in the second half. Owens sparked the Cougars with seven points, six assists and three steals in an eight-minute span to close the gap to 55-48. A trey by junior guard Stephanie Carlone followed by a steal and layup by Pierre (pictured right) drew the Cougars within three points midway through the second period.
The Cougars continued to peck away and closed the gap to 63-62 when Smith converted a conventional three-point play with six minutes to play. At the 4:29 mark, Owens tied the game at 66 going coast to coast.
A pair of free throws by Esposito allowed TCNJ to regain the lead, but Owens connected from deep range to give the Cougars their first lead since the 12:22 mark of the opening half.
The lead exchanged hands again as Pierre hit a circus shot off an inbounds pass, but O'Donnell hit sophomore Christina Merlin with a long pass to give TCNJ a 72-71 advantage with just over a minute left on the clock.
After a Merlin block at the defensive end, the Lions missed a shot and Kean grabbed a defensive rebound with less than 20 seconds remaining and trailing by a point. But Roddy intercepted a pass at midcourt to regain possession. O'Donnell knocked down a free throw to put the Lions up 73-71 with 11 seconds left in regulation. Owens then drove the length of the court and banked in a layup with 4.9 seconds remaining to force overtime.
A Roddy layup and Merlin putback gave the Lions a quick lead in overtime. Coughlin then drained a three-point shot to stretch the lead to five as TCNJ pulled away in the final period.
Kean closes out their NJAC fall semester schedule on Saturday when they travel to Rowan University for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
