Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College women's basketball team posted a 67-61 victory today over the Ospreys of Stockton University to improve to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. With the loss Stockton falls to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
Tia Solomon led the Roadrunners with 22 points and
Samantha Rinaldi collected 11 as the team shot a combined 18-52 (35%) from the field.
Jenna Harsh chipped in ten points in the win and
Stacey Porzl dished out a team high five assists. Solomon was the rebound leader with 14 for the double-double.
For the Ospreys, Kirsten Flourny led the team with 14 points, Natalie Miller added 12, and Emily Donzanti collected nine. Flourny got the double-double with ten rebounds and Donzanti dished out a team leading six assists.
The Roadrunners jumped to a 15-4 lead in the first period as Harsh nailed a jumper at 4:50 to give the Roadrunners the 11-point advantage but the Ospreys strung together a 7-1 run to end the period just two points behind Ramapo, 15-17. In the second, Stockton would open the scoring to tie the game at 17 and over the next two-plus minutes they would pull away to lead 26-18 with a jumper from Flourny. Ramapo came within two points (24-26) with a basket from Porzl before the two teams traded baskets down the stretch coming to a 32-32 tie with just one minute to go in the half. With the game tied at 33,
Jessica Repasy nailed down a buzzer beating basket to head into the locker room leading 35-33. Over the two periods Ramapo shot 8-23 (35%) and the Ospreys hit 11-33 (33%). Solomon led Ramapo with 13 points and eight rebounds while Flourny led Stockton with 14 points.
It took three minutes for a score at the start of the third period as Rinaldi nailed down the front end of a two-shot foul. Harsh would follow with a three-point goal to give Ramapo a 39-33 lead at 6:31 and just over two minutes later, Repasy sank two free throws to put the Roadrunners on top, 41-33. The Ospreys closed the gap with a long shot from Kiley Gelston at 3:03 but Ramapo pushed to spread their lead as they ended the period with a 6-3 run leading 47-38. In the final period, Miller nailed down a three to open the scoring and put Stockton within six, 41-47, but Rinaldi responded with a basket to jump ahead, 49-41 with 8:37 to go. Down the court, Gelston hit another Osprey three but Ramapo would continue to stay on top, leading 56-48 with a long shot from
Cherie Smedile with 6:11 on the clock. The Ospreys chipped away at Ramapo's lead and came back to tie the game at 61 with 1:10 to play, but the Roadrunners closed out the game on top, 67-61 for the conference win. Ramapo would hit 10-29 in the third and fourth periods while Stockton went 9-30. Solomon added nine points to her total.
The Roadrunners return to action on Wednesday, December 5th when they host Kean University at 5:30pm at the Bradley Center.
