Anthony Caruso
Staff Writer
With only a handful of opportunities left to play for the College coming into this week, seniors Jessica Goldbach, Kylie O’Donnell and Kelly Coughlin made it count.
Each has scored over 20 points in the past two games. Goldbach had 24 points following back-to-back 12-point performances. O’Donnell had 23 including 18 points on Saturday, Feb. 14. Coughlin had added 21 points.
On Wednesday, Feb. 11, at the Bradley Center on the Ramapo College campus, the Lions won 62-44 in front of the 125 in attendance.
Coughlin led the Lions with 13 points, while Goldbach had 12 and junior Angelica Esposito had 11.
There were only two lead changes, with the Lions holding the largest lead at 20 points in the second half. The score was tied three times. Ramapo’s only lead was 14:25 into the first half.
On Valentine’s Day, the Lions rolled to a 78-68 win at Packer Hall. This game was Senior Day, as the coaching staff and the crowd of 163 recognized the efforts of the three seniors.
“We had a lot of family, friends and former teammates in the stands. It just makes for an exciting atmosphere, and you just have to thank them for the support,” O’Donnell said. “The game got close a couple times, and it gave us the edge to push through.”
O’Donnell led the way with 18 points, while Esposito had 15. Goldbach had 12 and sophomore Katy Amato scored a career-high of 11 points.
The Lions had a 15-point lead with 36 seconds left in the first half. The game was tied once and there was one lead change.
“We’ve been swinging back and forth all season, so it’s nice to swing upwards with a five-game winning streak,” coach Dawn Henderson said. “We’ve fought so hard and especially with these seniors to get us moving in the right direction. It wasn’t pretty the entire time, but we embraced ourselves, worked our butts off and were able to come out ahead.”
Wednesday, Feb. 18 is the regular season finale, as they face Kean University at 6 p.m. at Packer Hall.
“I have looked ahead as any coach would, and I’ve said, ‘Maybe this person will beat that person,’ but there’s a lot of basketball left in one game,” Henderson said. “If we take care of our business at home against Kean, we’ll finish in fourth place and we’ll have a home game (in the playoffs).”
