New York, N.Y. — Melissa Escalera (Bronx, NY/ Adali E Stevenson) recorded 17 points and brought down 17 rebounds, while fellow teammate Lashannen Hogue (Yonkers, NY/ Roosevelt) had 16 points and 16 boards as the John Jay women’s basketball team defeated New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) representative New Jersey City University (NJCU) 65-56 at the Doghouse on Monday night.
John Jay jumped out to a 12-4 lead five minutes into the contest and led most of the way. The Bloodhounds led by as much as 11 (19-8) in the first half behind 45 percent shooting from the floor.
But the Gothic Knights hung in and managed to get the lead down to two (32-30) before halftime behind Arnese Goodman (Jersey City, NJ/ Lincoln) who recorded a game-high 23 points (9-for-18 from the floor) in the loss.
NJCU opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take a 37-34 lead 3:10 into the stanza.
But the Bloodhounds would answer and go on a 7-2 run of their own to reclaim the lead (41-39) and would never trail again.
John Jay built their lead up to as much as nine (55-46) in the second half at the 6:53 mark on a jumper by Mahogany Payne (Columbia, SC/ Columbia). But the Gothic Knights had an answer and went on a 8-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to get the deficit to one (55-54) on a Goodman jumper.
But that would be as close as NJCU would get as clutch foul shooting by Nasira Johnson (Newark, NJ/ West Side) and Escalera, plus key field goal shooting by Hogue down the stretch would deny any NJCU comeback.
Johnson recorded 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting to go along with a game-high six assists in the win.
Michelle Wallace (Flushing, NY/ Robert F Kennedy) chipped in with nine points, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks, while Ganimete Ukperaj (Bellmore, NY/ John F Kennedy) had six points.
Escalera also recorded five blocks in the win.
John Jay will return to action on Wed. Nov. 29 for homecoming against William Paterson Univ. at 5 p.m.
