New York, N.Y. — Janise Higgins (Cambria Heights, NY/ Christ the King) scored her only three points of the afternoon in the most crucial time of the game when she drilled a trey from the baseline in the final minute to give the Bloodhounds a commanding lead as John Jay women’s basketball defeated Rutgers-Newark 58-53 at the John Jay Doghouse on Saturday afternoon.
With the win John Jay completed four home games against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opponents with a 3-1 record this semester.
The win improves John Jay to 6-4, while Rutgers-Newark is now 5-3.
Nasira Johnson (Newark, NJ/ West Side) recorded a team-high 19 points, three assists, and three steals in the win for the Bloodhounds, while Lashannen Hogue (Yonkers, NY/ Roosevelt) had 16 points and 10 boards. Melissa Escalera (Bronx, NY/ Adali E Stevenson) grabbed a game-best 17 rebounds for John Jay.
Sabrina Sanchez (Keasbey, NJ/ Woodbridge) paced Rutgers-Newark with 15 points, while Courtney Vacca (Wayne, NJ/ Wayne Hills) came off the bench and grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds.
The visting Scarlet Raiders took a big lead early, and jumped out to a 16-6 advantage midway through the first half.
But John Jay closed the gap by going on an 11-3 run to get to within a point (19-18) on capped by a three-point field goal by Mahogany Payne (Columbia, SC/ Columbia) with 2:12 to play.
The Bloodhounds would not grab a lead though and Rutgers-Newark would go back up by as much as six in the final minute before John Jay would close the gap again and get to within three on capped a three-point play by Michelle Wallace (Flushing, NY/ Robert F. Kennedy) to narrow the Scarlet-Raiders lead to 26-23 before halftime.
Rutgers-Newark opened the second half on a 6-2 run to take another eight point lead.
With Rutgers-Newark still leading by eight, the Bloodhounds went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to two capped by another Payne trey with 12:39 to go.
After the Scarlet Raiders reclaimed a six point lead, John Jay went on a 9-0 run to take the lead and never trail again.
Rutgers-Newark tied the game for the final time (44-44 with 4:49 to play) on a three point field goal by Youngor Kehlay (Eatontown, NJ/ Monmouth Regional).
John Jay’s final run was a 7-0 spurt that was capped by the Higgins three with just under a minute remaining as John Jay snapped Rutgers-Newark’s five-game winning streak.
John Jay will return to action on Sat. Dec. 30 at SUNY Old Westbury at 2 p.m.
