UNION, N.J. (1/18/14) – The Kean University women's basketball team handed No. 10 Montclair State University its first NJAC loss in two years with a thrilling 74-69 victory on Saturday inside Harwood Arena. Freshman Jaquetta Owens led Kean with a double-double (26 points/11 assists), while AnnaRose Pierre and Simone Smith combined for 38 additional points for Kean.
The Cougars came out with a solid attack, as their first two possessions led to simple layups and Kean scored on its first five trips down the floor. Perhaps the most impressive one came when Owens crossed up her defender at the elbow and set up Smith for another lay-in. Kean led 10-4 in the first three minutes.
Pierre hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to keep Kean in front after Montclair closed the gap to one, and Smith (pictured left) put in a tough layup to extend the Cougar advantage to 19-13.
Owens had a pair of great assists in the next few minutes, setting up Smith and Aysha Harris for layups that extended the Cougar lead.
Jenny Malone hit a three for MSU that cut the lead to one, but Owens answered right back with a trey from the wing on the next possession.
With five minutes to go in the first, a 5-0 Cougar run capped by a Jazmine Davis layup put Kean up 34-27 and forced the Red Hawks to call timeout. Owens had seven assists by that point, and Smith and Pierre were both already in double figures for Kean.
After that timeout, MSU got within one, but Owens answered yet again with a hit from downtown to give Kean some breathing room.
Montclair kept coming, however, and tied the game on a breakaway with two-and-a-half minutes remaining. Their bid to take the lead way delayed by an impressive block by Pierre (pictured right), but Janitza Aquino hit a three-pointer to put the Hawks up for the first time since the first minute of play. She would finish the game with a team-high 26 points for the Hawks.
Montclair maintained its lead through the break and took a two-point lead into the locker room, though the Cougars led for 79 percent of the first period and led in shooting percentage (50 percent to 37), rebounding (24-14) and were shooting 60 percent from behind the arc.
The Red Hawks came out hot and scored the first four points, prompting head coach Mandy King to call timeout. After that, Kean fought back to tie the game at 50 on a three-pointer by Owens.
After forcing MSU to use all 30 seconds of the shot clock, Davis had a nifty scoop-in layup to put the Cougars back in the lead. Pierre followed it up with a great scoring move of her own as the Cougars completed a 9-0 run.
The two sides played evenly after that, with the Cougars maintaining a slim lead until the 6:35 mark when MSU finally tied it at 62-all. Owens hit four-of-four free throws on the next two possessions to put Kean back up with four minutes to go. Pierre then hit a layup to extend the advantage, and Owens made two more free throws to make the score 70-67 with just under three minutes remaining.
MSU trimmed the lead to one, but Kean held the ball as the clock slipped under one minute. The Cougars broke the pressure and found Smith for an open layup to run the lead back up to three with 51 ticks to go.
The Cougar defense did a fantastic job and forced a shot clock violation, then led Montclair to airball a three-point attempt on the next trip down. Owens hit the icing free-throws with seven seconds remaining for her 25th and 26th points of the game, allowing the Cougar bench to count down the final seconds to victory.
Montclair had not lost an NJAC regular season contest since February 1, 2012 against William Paterson University.
Kean shot 48 percent from the floor in the game, won the rebounding battle 47-30 and led 48-28 in points in the paint.
The Cougars will head to Richard Stockton College on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. game with the Ospreys.
