Courtesy of Mark Mentone NJIT Sports Information
No. 4 Seed Highlanders Defeat No. 5 Dominican, 67-45
NEWARK, N.J. – New Jersey Institute of Technology used a 15-0 second-half run to pull away from visiting Dominican (N.Y.) College in its 67-45 quarterfinal victory of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night at the Fleisher Athletic Center.
NJIT (18-10), the tournament’s No. 4 seed, moves on to play top seed Holy Family University (23-5) in the semifinals on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Caldwell College. It was the first postseason victory for the Highlanders in their eight years as a member of NCAA Division II.
Dominican (14-14), the No. 5 seed, sliced an 11-point halftime deficit to 37-32 with 15 minutes, 55 seconds, to play. The Highlanders proceeded to score the game’s next 15 points, capped by back-to-back Lisa Neira (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) jumpers, for a 20-point edge at the 11:55 mark. The Chargers never got closer than 18 points the rest of the way, with NJIT’s biggest lead coming at 67-40 with 5:34 remaining.
NJIT, which has won 13 of its last 15 games, including six in a row, was led by Kelly Crowe’s (Wayne, PA/Upper Merion) 17 points. Jackie McCaffrey (Bronx, NY/Masters) had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Neira finished with 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting. The Highlanders, who extended their school record for wins in a season, won their final nine home games.
NJIT held the Chargers to 31 percent shooting, including 28 percent in the second half, and forced 20 Dominican turnovers. NJIT shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and 48 percent for the night. Jackie Tracey (Bronx, NY/Cardinal Spellman) topped Dominican with 10 points.