Jersey City, N.J. (11/26/19) – Payce Lange and Shannon McCoy combined for 45 points as the Kean University women's basketball team picked up the win in their NJAC season opener by the final of 61-57 at New Jersey City University on Tuesday.
McCoy put Kean (3-1, 1-0 NJAC) ahead for good with under a minute to go with a floater (58-57). Ashley Hunt would register a steal on NJCU's next possession with 34 seconds to go and the Gothic Knights committed their 27th foul of the night to send McCoy to the line with 12 ticks on the clock. She would nail both to push the lead out to three.
NJCU had one last chance but a missed free throw and lane violation thwarted the opportunity.
After taking a quick lead to start the contest, the Cougars found themselves trailing for all of the second and third quarter, but battled to keep things close and regained the lead early in the fourth stanza. From there the teams traded leads, but Kean found themselves in a deficit with a minute to go. That set up McCoy for what would be the final.
McCoy finished with a game-high 23 points and five steals while Lange was right behind with 22 points and six rebounds. Cindy Foresta had double-digit rebounds with 11 while rookie Danielle Mills brought down eight.
The Cougars enjoy a short break and will return to NJAC action on Wednesday, December 4th when they host Rutgers-Newark.
