February 2, 2008
JERSEY CITY, NJ… The College of New Jersey reeled off a 16-0 run late in the first half to take control and the Lions, behind 23 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks from 6-foot-3 junior center Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) cruised to a 62-41 victory over New Jersey City University in a New Jersey Athletic Conference interdivisional game at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on Saturday night. It was Homecoming/Green and Gold Days 2008 at NJCU.
The Lions (15-5, 6-2 NJAC) have won nine of their last 11 games, only losing to conference leaders Kean University and William Paterson University. NJCU (6-14, 1-7 NJAC) had their first two-game winning streak of the season snapped and fall to 0-5 in Homecoming games since it became a winter activity in 2004.
Klimowicz led the Lions with her double-double performance, shooting 10-of-15 from the field in 28 minutes. She had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half as the Lions built a 30-14 halftime margin.
Senior guard Sara Best (High Bridge, NJ/Voorhees) was the games\’ second highest scorer with 12 points (5-8 FG), adding three assists. The Lions also received eight points from junior guard Lisa Koch (Oak Ridge, NJ/Jefferson Township) and six assists from junior guard Alyssa Michella (Washington Township, NJ/Immaculate Heart Academy) .
NJCU senior forward VANESSA VARGAS ESPINOZA (Union City, NJ/Emerson-Union City) and sophomore guard TANIA GREENLEAF (Bordentown, NJ/Columbia) each scored 11 points and connected on three three-pointers apiece to pace the Knights. Espinoza added six steals and five rebounds and now has 932 points in her collegiate career.
The Gothic Knights had their leading scorer, freshman guard ANGELA FITZGERALD (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) return to the lineup after missing six games due to injury. She scored seven points in 26 minutes off the bench.
With a combined eight blocks, TCNJ\’s defensive pressure proved to be more than the Knights could handle, and NJCU was limited to a 22.4 field goal percentage for the game (13-58) while the Lions shot 55.6 percent (25-45), including 60.9 percent in the first half ( 14-23). TCNJ outscored NJCU in the paint, 28-6. Despite forcing 26 turnovers, NJCU could not capitalize, only scoring 13 points off giveaways.
TCNJ, which never trailed, had a 14-9 lead with 10:25 left in the first half, before scoring 16 unanswered points to seize control of the game, jumping out to a 21-point lead, 30-9 with 1:40 left in the half. Klimowicz scored nine straight points during the spurt. A three-pointer by Espinoza with 1:19 left snapped a 9:06 scoring drought. Overall, NJCU went 13:47 without a field goal, missing 16 straight shots. A pair of Klimowicz foul shots with 16:14 left in the second half gave the Lions their largest lead, 43-15 (28 points), and the Knights would only come within 16 the remainder of the contest.
NJCU will return to action when they host Ramapo College in a New Jersey Athletic Conference North Division game on Wednesday, February 6 at 6 p.m. The Lions will visit Ramapo in Mahwah, NJ on Saturday, February 9 at 1 p.m.
This post was imported from a legacy archive. Please excuse any formatting inconsistencies.