Mahwah, N.J.— The John Jay women’s basketball team fought tough but fell short by six points on the road as the Bloodhounds were defeated by Ramapo College 62-56 at Ramapo’s Bradley Center on Tuesday.
The loss leaves John Jay at 1-2 on the season.
The Bloodhounds were paced by Parker Griffin (New York, NY / Bishop Kearney) with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Ganimete Ukperaj (Bellmore, NY / John F. Kennedy) added 14 points, five rebounds, and two steals, while Dominique Grice (North Babylon, NY / North Babylon) had 13 points, six assists, and five steals. Tina Ogunleye (Islandia, NY / Central Islip) had a game-high 14 rebounds for John Jay.
Ramapo opened the game on a 7-0 run, just two minutes into the contest, and led 12-1 with less than three minutes gone by. But John Jay came back with an answer and went on a 9-2 run of its own to move to within 14-10 on a jumper by Griffin with 12:58 to go.
The Bloodhounds kept it close for much of the first half and got their first lead of the night on an Ukperaj three at the 5:52 mark to give the Bloodhounds a 24-23 lead. After a Ramapo field goal the Bloodhounds reclaimed the lead on their next possession on a jumper by Griffin at the 4:47 mark.
But Ramapo took the lead again and would not trail again in the first half as the Roadrunners had a 37-33 lead at halftime.
John Jay opened the second half on an 8-1 run to take a 41-38 lead on a Griffin field goal at the 15:30 mark. The Bloodhounds increased the lead to six points at 46-40 with 13:25 to go on another Griffin field goal.
But a 17-3 Ramapo run over the next eight minutes would give the Roadrunners a 57-49 lead and the hosts would never trail again.
John Jay would get to within five (61-56) in the final minute but no closer as Ramapo would win by six.
The Bloodhounds return to action on Sat. Nov. 24 at the Gallaudet Thanksgiving Tournament. John Jay will face Lebanon Valley College at 6 p.m.
