Madison, NJ - The John Jay women's basketball team held a 30-29 halftime lead, but the FDU-Florham Devils outscored the Bloodhounds, 20-9, in the third quarter, and the visitors narrowly erased the double-digit lead, but fell 62-54 in the season opener.
Briana Minick was the lone Bloodhound in double-figures, finishing the game with 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Natalie Simonds added nine points while
Michaela Lattimore corralled a team-high 14 caroms.
Newcomers
Bryan Bascones,
Kailani Galan, and
Miah Crockett made their Bloodhound debuts. Bascones finished with six points and nine rebounds in 15 minutes of play. Galan finished with one point, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Crockett had three rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes.
Three Devils finished in double-figures, led by Bianca Sode, who registered a double-double, scoring 18 points on 9 of 18 shooting while grabbing ten rebounds. Alexa Chapman added 12 points while Shannon Tighe netted 10 points and came one rebound shy of joining Sode with a double-double (9). Julia Vazquez dished out eight assists while Sode swiped six steals.
The Bloodhound jumped out to an early lead following a layup from Simonds and a three-pointer from Essence Richards off the feed from Lattimore. Both struggled to find their rhythm for the rest of the quarter until the Devils scored the last six points of the frame, closing the quarter with a 16-11 lead.
FDU pushed the lead to seven, 18-11, on a Vazquez jumper before Minick drilled a three off the pass from
Alexis Jones. Newcomer
Bryan Bascones scored the following four points for the visitors, cutting the lead down to two, 20-18. At the 4:37 mark, Richardson found space and hit another trifecta, giving the lead back to the visitor and added a contested layup to give John Jay a four-point advantage, 26-22. Simonds made both free throws with time winding down in the half before Christina Centeno converted on the fastbreak layup as FDU trailed 30-29 at halftime.
When play resumed, FDU opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run before Jones hit on a three-pointer to stop the run as John Jay trailed 38-35. The Devils staged an 11-4 burst to close the quarter and hold a 49-39 lead.
The Devils upped its lead to 12, 51-39, on a Christina Sullivan layup. Minick continued her hot shooting from long range, connecting on two straight three-pointers, cutting the FDU lead down to six, 51-45. Following a tip-in from Chapman, Minick stayed perfect from long range, sinking a three from Simonds as John Jay trailed 53-48.
The Bloodhounds continued their comeback as Simonds made one of two from the line before hitting on a jumper in the paint as John Jay trailed 55-51 with 2:53 left in regulation. On the ensuing Devils possession, Vazquez hit a three to extend the lead, 58-51, before
Kailani Galan made one of two from the line.
Both teams played aggressively down the stretch as a pair of jump balls flipped possession, with Simonds hitting one of two from the line. Sode put the game away with a layup with 24 seconds prior to Minick scoring the final points of the contest.
John Jay was held to just 24.3 percent shooting from the field and 42.1 percent from three-point range. FDU converted on 33.7 from the floor while being held to 22.2 percent. The Bloodhounds outmuscled the Devils, 58-53.
The Bloodhounds continue their road trip on Monday, traveling to Danbury, CT, to take on WestConn. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
