Rowan Women’s Basketball Falling In Standings
By Jacob Keppen – Sports Writer for Sentinel of Gloucester County Weekly Newspaper
Published in Print Edition Week of February 14, 2019
It was only a little under three weeks ago that Rowan Women’s Basketball were on top of the world. After dropping their first contest of the new year, Rowan would storm back, rattling off six victories against NJAC opponents. The Profs just earned their biggest victory of the year, outlasting top conference rivals TCNJ to take first place in the NJAC. The Profs stood tall with a 12-7 overall record, with an even more impressive 10-2 conference record. Nobody could stop the first place Profs, or so it would seem.
The downfall would start with a shock loss to Stockton. It was one of the worst games Rowan had played all season. They couldn’t hit shots from anywhere on the court, and were extremely sloppy with the ball. Rowan let Stockton get to the line far too often as well.
The Profs woes continued with a big loss to Montclair State. The defense was not able to really stop the Red Hawks offense, while also struggling to make shots of their own.
Rowan after the loss found themselves in a precarious position. They were in second place in the NJAC, but could easily move up or down with three games left. Winning the rest of the games would at least secure Rowan a bye. Rowan started out their final three games of the regular season well with a big 74-53 victory over William Paterson.
Rowan’s victory over the Pioneers was largely due to their great hustle. Rowan’s offense still didn’t look great, they still only shot 39% from the field and shot even worse from the three point line. The Profs did control the boards though, out rebounding William Paterson 61-45. Second chance points were huge for Rowan. The Profs also locked William Paterson down on defense, holding the Pioneers to 25% from the field.
Things looked to be going for Rowan once again. They bounced back from two bad losses with a nice win over a tough conference foe. They hoped to continue their winning ways against Rutgers-Newark, but dropped a crucial 46-42 game to the Scarlet-Raiders.
Rowan trailed for most of the game, but with a surge in the fourth quarter managed to tie the game up at 42 with 4;22 left in the fourth. Rowan were not able to generate much offense for the rest of the game, and fell to the Scarlet Raiders from there. Rutgers-Newark simply outlasted Rowan.
This was an ugly game for both offenses. Neither team were really able to hit their shots, with Rowan shooting 29% and Rutgers-Newark shooting 33%. Both teams were extremely careless with the ball, with both teams turning over the ball over 20 times.
Despite being in first place in the NJAC in late January, Rowan now currently sit in third place. Unless Rutgers-Camden can knock off Montclair State this week, Rowan’s final game on the road against Kean is just for pride. They will finish the season in third place in the NJAC, missing out on a bye.