Successful Week For Rowan Women’s Basketball By Jacob Keppen
Successful Week For Rowan Women’s Basketball
By Jacob Keppen,Sports Writer for The Sentinel of Gloucester County Weekly Newspaper
Published in Print Edition Week of Jan. 17th, 2019
Classic rock legend Meat Loaf once stated that “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and that certainly was the case for Rowan this week. The Profs won two of their three games in the past week, two very key victories over conference opponents.
The week started out on a down note with a 72-61 loss against NJAC rivals Montclair State. Montclair State’s Alex McKinnon and Taylor Brown led both teams with 17 points a piece, both contributing 3 steals and an assist. Alexis Kriley led the Profs with 16 points.
While neither team were able to score with great efficiency from the field, Montclair State destroyed Rowan with a barrage of 3 pointers, hitting 9-16 from 3 point land. Rowan was not able to keep up with their sharpshooting foes, only hitting 13% of their 3 pointers. Keep an eye on this game to be a potential NJAC semi final or final, with both teams at the top of the NJAC conference.
Rowan would bounce back nicely from the crushing loss with a 71-58 thrashing of Kean. What a game it was for Alexis Kriley who put up an efficient 21 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Nicole Byrne contributed in a big way off the bench, hitting 2 3 pointers. Free throw shooting, something Rowan had struggled with a bit through the season, was a major key for the Profs in the victory, with Rowan going 17-24 from the charity stripe. The ability to get to the line and earn easy points, as well as creating a good amount of turnovers, led to the victory for the Profs.
Riding the momentum from their win over Kean, Rowan set their sights on conference rival Rutgers-Newark. The Scarlet Raiders were a team of similar record to Rowan (9-6) who look to be one of many major contenders vying for the NJAC conference championship. In a close battle of NJAC powers, Rowan came away with the 67-60 victory.
Dominique Peters had one of her best games of the season, scoring 17 points while grabbing ten rebounds. Her success from the free throw line (6-6) was huge for Rowan in the victory. The team as a whole shot well from the free throw line (70%) which was vital for the Profs. While Rutgers-Newark were able to cause a good amount of Rowan turnovers while taking care of the ball themselves, Rowan was able to massively out rebound the Scarlet Raiders 48-29. Rowan’s success at the free throw line as well as their stifling defense that held Rutgers-Newark to 31% from the field gave the Profs a key conference victory.
Rowan currently sit at a 9-7 record. Most importantly, Rowan’s have a very good 7-2 record in the NJAC. With big wins over conference opponents, Rowan are setting themselves up well for an NJAC tournament run. Looking forward to next week, Rowan will host Rutgers-Camden and NJCU, with a chance of retribution against TCNJ lo