Three games.
Three wins.
The women’s basketball team has been on a hot streak the last week and a half, winning three games in a row and doing it in a different fashion each time.
On December 1, they beat New Jersey City University by 19 points. Four players scored in double-digits and the team shot over 50 percent from the field but went just 11-23 from the free throw line.
On December 5, they defeated Stockton University by 25. They shot 17-30 at the line and cashed in eight from beyond the arc. Five players scored in double digits.
Last Saturday, the team came out on top of Ramapo by six. Their highest scorer was Jazlyn Duverglas with 10 points. Five players had eight. They shot under 40 percent from the field, but still got the job done.
Head coach Gabby Lisella says that the diversity that has come with the wins are learning experiences and are good for the team going down the stretch.
“A lot of our games have been close,” Lisella said. “Our losses have been close. I think we’re learning how to keep it together down the stretch. If you look at our last game, Ramapo made a run partially because we weren’t getting great offensive execution. We got tentative as opposed to attacking. We were able to still respond. If you look at the game against TCNJ we did the same thing. I think we’re learning. We are very young so part of this is a learning curve.”
For freshman guard Kennedy Brown, the game against Ramapo was her worst shooting performance of the year as she went 2-10. Even with that, she was one of the five players with eight points. She went ahead and snagged five steals, proving to her point that if it’s not your night on offense, you can always put that effort more into your defense.
“I think defense always leads to offense,” Brown said. “If I’m having an off night, I can always look for my teammates. I can always drive and kick it out to whoever is open… Everybody on the team just wants to win. Nobody is looking to score 24/7. We just want everybody to pass and look for the open basket.”
A huge factor that has played into the Profs’ season so far has been the status of their roster. Lisella has said in the past that they roll with “10 starters,” but even that is getting a bit difficult because of things such as injuries and sickness for those on the team.
“I think that what we’re preaching to our kids is ‘you have to be ready when we need you,'” Lisella said. “And when we need you and how we need you is pretty fluid. We haven’t had everyone dressed for a game yet… Finding ways to just be ready. Next-man-up kind of mentality.”
Their 5-4 overall record might seem a bit of an underperformance so far, but four of those wins have come in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), where they are 4-1 and stand in fourth, tied with Montclair State University and Rutgers-Newark.
Plenty of games are still on the season slate, and for the team, it’s vital to take it one at a time.
“It’s such a long season that if you start dwelling on what you’ve done already, somebody sneaks up and bites you,” Lisella said. “I think you pretty much have to do that. It’s the nature of the beast a little bit, particularly with our current personnel… not get so wrapped up into what just happened or what might happen. Just play to play.”
Rowan heads to William Paterson for their final conference match-up until January 5. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. Update of the game will be provided on Thursday morning.
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