Union, N.J. (2/5/21) – The Kean University women's basketball team suffered a 64-52 season opening loss to New Jersey City University on Friday evening.

Rookie Brittany Graff led the Cougars (0-1, 0-1 NJAC) with 14 points while Shannon McCoy added 11.

For the Gothic Knights (1-0, 1-0 NJAC) Dayjah Anderson posted a double-double 20 points and 10 rebounds.

NJCU took an early lead near the end of the first quarter with a short 6-0 run that turned a seven-all tie into a 13-7 lead.  Kean responded with a spurt of their own spanning the quarters as Kayla Anderson, DarRique Smith and Olivia Nilsen each nailed treys to push ahead by five (18-13).  The teams then traded leads down the stretch into the break with NJCU holding a slim one point lead (29-28).

Tied 31-all early in the third quarter, the Knights used multiple fast breaks to take the first double-digit lead of the day.  The Cougars would trim the deficit back down to single digits multiple times but were unable to overcome the margin.

For NJCU Damaris Rodriguez, Zianna Goda and Nahjeemah Holmes all finished in double-digits.

The two teams return to action on Saturday at NJCU beginning at 1 p.m.