The women’s basketball team played a couple of their most exciting games of the season this week, resulting in one win and one loss. It is now easy to see the determination that these players bring to the games each and every week, and they are ready to go after the coveted New Jersey Athletic Conference championship.
With the excitement building on the court and in the stands, the Lions seem to feed off of that energy and are getting stronger by the minute.
The Lions played their first of two games of the week on Wednesday, Jan. 23 and came out on top with a nail-biting 66-63 victory over Richard Stockton College.
By halftime, the College was trailing 39-32 despite unrelenting force. In the first few seconds of the second half, they still were not able to turn it around.
With 10:29 remaining in the game, the College had fallen behind the Ospreys 55-42 in what looked likely to be a hard loss. However, the team pulled it together and went on a stellar 16-0 run, which gave them the lead.
Junior guard Tiffany DeTulio scored a three-pointer, to start the impressive run. Junior forward-center Liz West and junior guard Colleen Duffy both helped add to the score. However, it was sophomore guard Kylie O’Donnell who made it a one-point game. Junior guard Kelly Roddy then shot to make the score 58-58.
With 49 seconds left, the Ospreys were back on top with a score of 64-63, but O’Donnell nailed two free throws to secure the victory.
Four Lions made their way to double digit points in the game, including Roddy, DeTulio, O’Donnell and sophomore forward Jessica Goldbach.
The second game of the week came on Saturday, Jan. 26 and was a hard-fought loss to Ramapo College. In this NJAC game, the Lions came down from the high on Wednesday and looked great. However, an unfortunate pair of free throws cost them the game in the end.
Within the first 10 minutes of the game, the Lions scored 10 unanswered points. The Roadrunners soon had a 9-2 run though and quickly caught up to the Lions.
Sophomore center-forward Candace Vigo had a tremendous first half, grabbing nine boards and leading her team in the back-and-forth action of the game.
The second half of the game began with the Roadrunners scoring first, but Vigo gave the Lions help with a field goal and a short free throw.
With two minutes left in the game, the Lions were up 45-43, but a foul and a pair of free throws were the determining factors in the Lions’ loss. Vigo showcased her talent in this game, however, completing a career-high 14 rebounds and five assists.
Despite this loss, the Lions are still in good shape and have a positive, fierce outlook on the last few games they have coming up.
“As we come into the second half of the season, the majority of our games were and are conference games and these become very important games,” Goldbach said. “Every single game is important no matter who our opponent is. We still need to continue to grow as a group and work hard to reach our goal of becoming NJAC champions.”
The Lions will next take on Rutgers-Camden University this Wednesday, Jan. 30, in Camden, N. J.
