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The Rowan women’s basketball team won their first New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game of the season against Montclair State by a score of 75-45.
Kristina Johnson got the Profs’ offense going early, hitting four threes in the first quarter, allowing the Profs to take an early lead. Johnson was the team’s leading scorer with 15.
“It felt smooth coming off of my hand. When it feels like that I just keep shooting,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s three-point barrage early lead to an all-around great game from three for the team. They shot 54% from three on 22 attempts from the field. They were able to use their size to collapse defense on the inside for easy kick-outs for good shooters.
“When the ball goes in the hoop early I think everyone’s confidence rises,” head coach Kate Pearson said. “I think everyone rides off of that.”
Another starter that had a good game was Sabrina Araujo who came into this game struggling three, shooting two for 14 from beyond the arc. In this game, she shot three from five from three.
“It felt like the hard work I put in is paying off,” Araujo said. “I was shooting not so great at the beginning, but it was not as good. Being home helped me shoot better.”
One of the Rowan’s strengths early on was their use of a full-court press, which created Montclair turnovers.
Rowan outscored Montclair by a score of 22-9 when it came to points off of turnovers, with Rowan scoring 15 of those 22 points in the first quarter.
“The goal was to put pressure on them,” Pearson said. “I knew they were pressing team, so we wanted to press them to keep the pace going, we did that to create opportunities. The girls did a great job.”
The second quarter was another dominant quarter defensively out of the Profs. One of the big pieces was Charlotte Carlies, who was five inches taller than any other Montclair player. She finished with three blocks. At one point Pearson elected to put in another one of the bigs, Shayla Johnson. Montclair did not score with Johnson and Carlies on the court.
“We saw an opportunity when both of their post players were in foul trouble so we decided to use our size,” Pearson said.
With this win, the Profs are 1-0 in NJAC play and will face off against Rutgers-Camden in their second NJAC game.
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