The Rowan women’s basketball season came to an end on Saturday, Feb. 22 after falling to the Kean Cougars 74-68 in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament. 

The Profs beat the Cougars twice in the regular season but were unable to beat them a third time. The big difference between them was the turnovers.

“We were just overthinking,” Pearson said. “And we let the excitement get to us, most of the turnovers were travels. So that part was pretty frustrating.”

In the first two games against Kean, the Profs had 14 turnovers total. In this game, Rowan had 18 turnovers, compared to Kean’s 15.

The game opened with the two teams trading blows. The newly named All-NJAC first teamer, Kate Herlihy, led the way for Rowan on the offensive end to open the game, scoring seven of the team’s first 11 points. However, Kean’s offense outscored the Profs 15-11, with Cara McCoy scoring an early 10, and helped guide a 7-0 Cougars run to end the quarter. The Profs’ six turnovers also helped give Kean a leg up early on.

The second quarter was even on both sides. The Profs had more of a balanced attack in the second quarter, with Jes Mastriano and Shayla Johnson each scoring four points. Kean struggled to deal with Rowan’s size on the offensive end.

Reagan Russo, Sabrina Araujo, Jess McLaughlin, and Herlihy all had timely baskets in the second, which helped stop Kean from going on a run on the other end. However, Erika Mercedes, who was a key player for Kean, began to heat up throughout this quarter, scoring 10 points in the quarter.

Coming out of halftime, Herlihy committed three fouls in the first five minutes of the third quarter, which forced Pearson’s hand, as Herlihy went to the bench for the first time during the game. This allowed the Profs’ bench to have a bigger role. This was seen in the difference in bench points, the Profs had 27, compared to zero bench points scored by Kean.

One of the bench players who played really well in the third and fourth quarters was Haley Selmer. Selmer has shown improvement on both ends throughout the season, and those improvements were on full display. When Shayla Johnson and Selmer shared the court, Selmer would get switched onto Kean’s biggest player, and she played stout defense.

On the offensive side of the ball, she did a great job forcing turnovers that turned into offense. She also was able to secure offensive rebounds and put the ball back up. She finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists, one block, and two steals.

“Haley did a lot of good things,” Pearson said. “It is very promising for the future, and I just want to give her opportunities to continue to grow.”

Beginning the fourth quarter, Pearson put Herlihy back in, but she picked up her fourth foul early, and had to sit for a few minutes in the final frame. 

“It took us out of our flow, a little bit,” Pearson said. “We let some of the officiating get in our heads.”

This allowed Mercedes to take advantage, especially because Herlihy was her primary defender. Mercedes also hit the free throws that iced the game for Kean.

Herlihy and Araujo both put up deep three to try to keep the team in the game, but it ultimately was not enough. The degree of difficulty on both those shots ultimately was high; fitting last baskets for Herlihy and Araujo’s Rowan basketball careers.

Along with Herlihy and Araujo, this was also Russo, Shayla Johnson, Kristina Johnson, and Kelli Kuenzil’s final game. The Profs will have to find ways to replace their production next season.

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