Junior power forward MEGAN KABBA (Newark, NJ/Arts) notched her third double-double of the year with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman center ARNESE GOODMAN (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) posted her first career double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, as the New Jersey City University women’s basketball team opened a two-game California road trip by hammering the California Institute of Technology, 83-27, late Tuesday night at Braun Gym.
The 56-point winning margin for NJCU (5-6) tied for the 11th largest in program history, and the 16th time overall the Gothic Knights have ever won a contest by 50 or more points since its inception. Cal Tech (1-8) has lost five straight. This was the first meeting between the schools in women’s basketball.
Kabba led all scorers with her season-high 17-point showing on 7-of-11 shooting, and she added 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass, where NJCU tallied 24 second-chance points. Goodman missed just once (6-7 FG) while scoring 13, and had eight of her 11 boards on defense. She added three assists and two steals.
Sophomore point guard LATRESE McNAIR (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth), this week’s ECAC Division III Metro co-Player of the Week, continued creating havoc on defense, where she swiped six steals, to go along with eight points (4-7 FG) in only 13 minutes of action.
Junior swingman WYNTER LIGHTFOOT (Haverstraw, NY/North Rockland, NY) had nine points and a career-best nine rebounds (six defensive) in only 14 minutes of reserve time, while freshman guard BETH AMADEO (Bayonne, NJ/Marist) also added nine (4-7 FG) off the bench.
Freshman center TIFFANY BOYD (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) added eight points (4-6 FG) and seven rebounds in 11 minutes. Rookie point guard TALIAH CHAMBERS (Orange, NJ/Orange) had five assists and three steals while making her third straight start.
No Beaver player reached double figures on the scoreboard. Freshman swingman LINDSAY KING (Bedford, NH) had her team’s best performance with seven points, seven defensive rebounds, four blocks, and three assists.
NJCU quickly built a 9-0 lead to open the game, and held a first half margin of 14-2 before a 13-0 run made it 27-6. It was 36-15 lead at the half.
The Knights scored the first 10 points of the second half, before a 21-5 spurt to open the period made it 57-20. NJCU wrapped up the game on an 18-1 run in the final 3:59, and led by as many as 57, with the Knights outscoring the Beavers, 47-14, in the second stanza.
NJCU shot .409 for the game (36-88) and .353 from three-point range (6-17). Amazingly, NJCU out-rebounded its opponents by 27, 60-33, and owned a 30-8 advantage on the offensive glass. Cal Tech shot just .234 overall (11-of-47) and committed 29 turnovers versus only two steals. In contrast, the Knights had more steals (19) than turnovers (13). NJCU had a 41-5 edge in scoring off turnovers and 42-5 from their bench.
NJCU will use January 5 as a travel day before heading up the West Coast to Santa Cruz, CA where the Knights will wrap up the western swing with a 5:30 pm PST game against the University of California-Santa Cruz. The Banana Slugs are 0-14 overall, but have lost five times by less than 10.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
Newspaper Box Score New Jersey City University vs Caltech 01/04/05 7pm PST at Pasadena, CA (Braun Gym) At Pasadena, CA (Braun Gym) NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 83, CALTECH 27 NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY (5-6) Megan Kabba 7-11 3-6 17; Arnese Goodman 6-7 0-1 13; Wynter Lightfoot 4-10 0-0 10; Beth Amadeo 4-7 0-0 9; Latrese McNair 4-7 0-0 8; Tiffany Boyd 4-6 0-0 8; Stephanie Hogan 3-8 0-0 7; Erika Cubile 2-9 0-0 5; Bernice Amadeo 1-8 0-0 3; Natashia Clackley 1-4 0-0 2; Allana Diaz 0-5 1-2 1; Patricia Payne 0-2 0-0 0; Moncia Lykes 0-3 0-0 0; Taliah Chambers 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 36-88 4-9 83. CALTECH (1-8) Lindsay King 3-15 0-2 7; Jessica Roberts 3-16 0-0 7; Andrea Kung 1-4 2-6 4; Lisa Tran 2-2 0-0 4; Meghan Kelleher 1-3 0-0 2; Shelby Montague 1-5 0-0 2; Wing Ning Yung 0-0 1-2 1; Angela Magee 0-0 0-0 0; Penny Gunterman 0-0 0-1 0; Diana Lin 0-1 0-0 0; Raquel Martinez 0-1 0-0 0; Joanne Yim 0-0 0-0 0; Christina Chang 0-0 0-0 0; Sue Ann Hong 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-47 3-11 27. New Jersey City University.... 36 47 - 83 Caltech....................... 13 14 - 27 3-point goals-New Jersey City University 7-18 (Wynter Lightfoot 2-3; Arnese Goodman 1-1; Beth Amadeo 1-3; Erika Cubile 1-4; Stephanie Hogan 1-3; Bernice Amadeo 1-4), Caltech 2-13 (Lindsay King 1-6; Jessica Roberts 1-5; Meghan Kelleher 0-2). Fouled out--New Jersey City University-None, Caltech-None. Rebounds-New Jersey City University 60 (Megan Kabba 11; Arnese Goodman 11), Caltech 33 (Lindsay King 7). Assists-New Jersey City University 18 (Taliah Chambers 5), Caltech 5 (Lindsay King 3). Total fouls-New Jersey City University 14, Caltech 8. A-62