Jersey City, NJ:
Jackie Ventricelli scored a career high 32 points as the Ramapo College women's basketball team came back to defeat New Jersey City University in NJAC action, 78-70. The Roadrunners run their overall record to 8-0 while they now stand at 4-0 in conference play. The Gothic Knights move to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
The Roadrunners outscored the Gothic Knights 19-6 in the final 4:16 of the game to secure the road victory. NJCU saw themselves up 64-59 on a made three-pointer from Jada Camacho before Ventricelli scored a basket and later a pair of free throws to come within three, 63-66, with less than four minutes on the clock. A made free throw from
Jada Thompson and a basket brought the Roadrunners within four with 3:05 on the clock before a basket from
Alison Ahern started an 8-0 run. Thompson sank a pair of free throws with 1:56 on the clock to tie the game at 68 while Johnstone sank a pair of free throws just 16 seconds later to take a 70-68 lead. Ventricelli sank a pair of her own with 1:21 on the clock, 72-68, before Damaris Rodriguez sank a bucket for NJCU with 50 seconds remaining. Thompson scored a pair of free throws before Ventricelli forced back-to-back NJCU turnovers as she scored a jumper and a pair of free throws to close out the game, 78-70.
Ventricelli finished 10-15 from the floor and 11-12 from the free throw line while she recorded ten rebounds, six steals and two assists. Thompson finished 7-12 from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line while she grabbed five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Ahern contributed with six points and seven rebounds while Johnston added nine points and one steal. For the game, the Roadrunners shot 43% (28-65) from the field, 21% (3-14) from the three-point line and 90% (19-21) from the free throw line. The Roadrunners forced 27 NJCU turnovers which led to 23 points for Ramapo.
Rodriguez led the Gothic Knights with 24 points and Jada Camacho tallied 20 points while Kyara Cowan contributed with ten points in the game. NJCU shot 43% (28-65) from the field, 26% (7-26) from the three-point line and 63% (7-11) from the free throw line.
The Roadrunners return to action when they travel to Rowan University for a NJAC conference game at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
