Feb. 14, 2008

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - Sophomore guard Corin Adams scored 20 points for visiting Morgan State in the Bears' 59-45 women's basketball win over NJIT Thursday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

Adams got 17 of her points in the first half as Morgan built a 39-19 halftime lead that proved insurmountable for the Highlanders in the second 20 minutes.

Senior guard Shalane Price chipped in 12 points for the visitors, who raised their record to 14-9 with the victory. Price also made a game-high four steals.

The scoring leader for the Highlanders was freshman guard Jessica Gerald, who scored 19 points, aided by 7-for-8 free throw shooting in a game that included 47 fouls and 59 foul shots between the two squads.

Morgan State had two double-figure rebounders, paced by a game-high 14 rebounds for freshman Theresa Davis, who piled up all the caroms in just 20 minutes of action before fouling out. Senior Britney Griffin finished with 11 rebounds for the Bears.

NJIT sophomore Taiwo Oyelola paced the Highlander rebounders, tying her career high in that category with 12 rebounds. She also grabbed 12 boards in a win over Cal State Bakersfield this season on January 11.

Junior Jackie McCaffrey led NJIT in assists and steals, passing for a game-best four assists and making three steals.

NJIT started slowly, managing just four points in the opening 8:15 and falling behind, 16-4, after a pair of free throws for Morgan State's Adams.

The Highlanders, who had trouble sustaining any consistent shooting most of the night, had their best run of the game, outscoring the Bears, 12-4 over the next 6:46. The spurt pulled NJIT to within four, 20-16, after Gerald hit the second of two free throws with 5:59 left.

Morgan answered with five straight points before Highlander Erika Velez made two free throws with 5:10 left to make the score 25-18.

The Highlanders got only a Kehinde Oyelola free throw the rest of the half, while Morgan scored 14 more points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Adams to close the half at 39-19 in favor of the Bears.

Adams had 17 points at the half for the visitors, while Gerald accounted for 10 of her team's 19 first-half points.

Morgan State scored the first four points of the second half, claiming what would be its biggest lead of the game, 43-19, with 19:01 left.

But this NJIT team has shown a relentless refusal to back down, regardless of the score and it was on display again Thursday night.

Playing hard, the Highlanders reversed numerous statistics in the second half from the first.

Having been outrebounded by the bigger Bears in the first half, 31-17, NJIT played the visitors to a virtual standstill on the boards in the second half, 23-22.

In the first half, the turnovers were even at nine apiece. In the second half, the Highlanders again made nine turnovers, but they applied defensive pressure that contributed to 15 turnovers by the Bears in the closing 20 minutes.

In addition to the 15 turnovers, the Highlanders defense held Morgan State to 6-for-23 shooting from the field in the second half.

Despite all the positives, NJIT could never get closer than 12 points of the lead, due largely to its own inability to make shots.

One key stretch typified NJIT's frustrating shooting. After cutting the deficit to 14, 46-32, at the 14:07 mark, the Highlanders missed their next 11 shots from the field--six of them layups--before getting another point.

Even with such troubles on the offensive end, the Highlanders allowed Morgan only five more points during the drought, but more than four minutes had come off the clock and the visitors' lead was back up to 19 points.

NJIT's 12-point second-half deficit came after Ivana Seric's traditional three-point play at 6:13, making the score, 55-43. But neither team did much the rest of the way and Morgan State finished on top.

The Highlanders are back home on Saturday against Savannah State in a 2 pm game in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

That contest is part of an extremely busy day on Saturday. The women's basketball alumnae game will begin at 11 am. Next up is the 2 pm game vs. Savannah State, followed by an NJIT men's basketball game vs. Chicago State, scheduled for a 4 pm start. And NJIT men's volleyball will close out the day with an important Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division contest, hosting George Mason at 8 pm.