Union, N.J. (2/15/23) – The Kean University women's basketball team used a strong second quarter to overcome a slow first frame to win their final game of the regular season by the final of 63-50 on Wednesday evening.
NJAC TOURNAMENT SOLIDIFIED:
With tonight's results, the Cougars finished tied for first place in the conference standings. By virtue of tiebreakers Kean is seeded second and will receive a first-round bye. New Jersey City University takes the top spot by virtue of their sweep over Rowan University. The Profs earned the third seed while The College of New Jersey finishes with the fourth spot. William Paterson University will be the fifth seed and Ramapo College rounds out the field as the sixth seed.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Stockton University (12-13, 7-11 NJAC) raced out to a nine point advantage (13-4) in the first four minutes of action. They extended that lead to double-digits as Imene Fathi hit a three-pointer with 3:21 on the clock to go ahead 19-8.
The Cougars (16-9) then used a strong 12-2 run in the first five minutes of the second quarter to close the gap to three (24-21). Shannon McCoy gave Kean their first lead of the day with back-to-back treys to end the first half as the Cougars led 31-26.
Kean did not trail the rest of the way. The Ospeys tied things up at 37-all with 3:19 to go in the third quarter, but Brittany Graff responded with one from behind the arc to give Kean a lead they would not relinquish.
The Cougars held a double-digit lead for most of the final stanza and held their largest lead of the day with a minute and a half to go off a fastbreak bucket from McCoy.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
McCoy finished with a game-high 21 points while Graff finished with 13 points and seven assists. Shahd Badeer had a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points.
Adriyana Jennings had a team-high 17 points for the Ospreys in the loss.
UP NEXT:
Kean enjoys the bye on Saturday and will face the winner of #3 Rowan/#6 Ramapo at home on Wednesday, February 22nd at 7 p.m.
