NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark senior forward
Courtney Vacca posted her 15th double-double of the season, but New Jersey City took a 62-57 overtime win in The Golden Dome to dim the Scarlet Raiders’ chances of earning a sixth consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Tournament berth.
New Jersey City 62, Rutgers-Newark 57 (OT)
Vacca finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots and a team-high five assists, but the Gothic Knights (6-15, NJAC 3-7) survived a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to dominate the overtime period.
Raider junior guard
Martyna Ruminska joined Vacca with a double-double, notching 11 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore guard
Jared Tactuk added nine points, five rebounds and four assists.
Freshman guard
Kristen Venning, who was playing in her first game since suffering a knee injury on November 22, drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3.2 seconds left to send the game into an extra period. Venning finished with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
But, freshman guard Ashley Freeman made one of her game-high five 3-pointers to open the scoring in overtime and freshman guard Latifah Johnson added two inside baskets to boost NJCU. Freeman led all scorers with 21 points while adding seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. Johnson chipped in 18 points, a team-high five assists and a game-high four steals as the Gothic Knights kept alive hopes of making their first NJAC playoff in 21 years.
Rutgers-Newark (7-15, NJAC 2-9) fell for the eighth straight time in conference play and cost itself the luxury of deciding its own playoff fate. Had the Raiders won, they could have guaranteed a return to the NJAC playoffs with a win at Ramapo on February 17. Now, they need several things to fall their way over the next week and a half.
Rutgers-Newark hosts William Paterson on Wednesday on Senior Night. Vacca will be honored before the women’s game tips off at 6 p.m. while six Raider men will take their final regular-season bow before the 8 o’clock nightcap.