UNION, N.J. (1/25/14) – The Kean University women's basketball team overcame a 23-point second half deficit to stun The College of New Jersey 75-65 in overtime on Saturday. The Cougars used a 30-6 run to complete their epic comeback and move to 10-7 on the year and 7-3 in the NJAC. The Lions are now 11-6 and 8-3 in the conference.
AnnaRose Pierre scored a game-high 24 points, had seven boards and three blocks to lead the Cougar resurgance.
Though Kean scored the first bucket of the game, the Lions earned 11 of the next 13 points. It was a balanced attack from TCNJ in the opening stage: seven different players scored the Lions' first 18 points.
But by the time the teams reached the midway mark of the first period, Pierre, Jazmine Davis, Simone Smith and Shanice Jones had hit successive layups to trim what had been a 12 point lead down to five.
Liz West scored her 10th point with 4:30 remaining in the first. She led TCNJ as the visitors bumped their advantage past its previous high, doubling up the Cougars 40-20. When the half's final buzzer sounded the Lions were up 41-22. Pierre led Kean in the first period with eight points.
Over the first four minutes of the second half Kean chipped away at the Lion lead. Collins, Pierre, Owens and Smith engineered a 15-0 run for the Cougars the knocked the deficit down to just eight. Both Owens and Smith completed traditional three-point plays during the streak and the Cougar defense held TCNJ without a point for over six minutes of game time. Kean forced four turnovers during the run and did not commit a single one.
The two teams settled in to a back-and-forth rhythm after that stretch. TCNJ maintained at least an eight-point cushion until Shay Collins hit a trey with 2:30 to go in the game.
Three-point shooting had proved to be Kean's Achilles heel the entire game; the Cougars missed their first 11 three-point shots and did not make one until Collins' swish.
After Kean forced a turnover, Pierre came down and hit a pull-up jumper to trim the lead down to five with 1:30 remaining. The Cougars forced another turnover, and Owens hit a three from the wing to make it a one-possession game. Another steal and a transition layup by Owens tied the game as the Cougars completed an incredible comeback. Once again the defense was tremendous, not allowing a TCNJ point for the final 3:47 of regulation time.
With 12 seconds to go, Kean forced another turnover – TCNJ's seventh in five minutes – but the Cougars could not get the buzzer-beater to go and the game went to overtime.
Owens set up Smith for a layup to begin the extra period, giving Kean the lead for the first time since the opening minute of the game. Smith then had a big put-back after a missed free-throw to put the Cougars up by three.
With 1:30 on the scoreboard, Collins knocked down a baseline jumper to expand the advantage to five points; the largest lead Kean had enjoyed all night. Collins (pictured left) made it a three-possession game by hitting two free throws with less than a minute to go. The Cougars held on and were able to run the clock out for their second-straight hair-raising win over a talented conference rival. The team beat No. 10 Montclair State last Saturday.
The Kean defense was the story of this evening: in the final 11 minutes of gameplay the Lions were held to just six points, allowing the Cougars to make their extraordinary comeback.
The Cougars will next travel to Ramapo College on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. NJAC date with the Roadrunners.
