Box Score

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The New Jersey City University women's basketball team roared back from a 20-point first-half deficit and went on to stun Rutgers University-Camden, 72-66, in the final game of the season for both New Jersey Athletic Conference teams.
 
NJCU closes its season at 10-15 overall and 4-14 in the NJAC, good for ninth place in the conference.
 
Rutgers-Camden, which held leads of 13-0 and 35-15 in the opening half, ends its season at 9-16. The Scarlet Raptors finish in eighth place in the NJAC with a 5-13 record, their most conference victories since the 2002-03 season, when they went 12-6 and went on to capture the NJAC championship.
 
The two teams split the season series, leaving Rutgers-Camden with a 32-24 lead in the all-time series.
 
Throughout the first half, it appeared the Scarlet Raptors would increase their all-time series lead. Less than four minutes into the game, Rutgers-Camden had established a 13-0 lead, aided by 3-for-3 shooting from three-point range by senior guard Alex Gravinese (Audubon, NJ/Audubon). The Scarlet Raptors built that lead to 35-15 before settling with a 38-25 halftime lead behind 11 points apiece from Gravinese and senior center Tanjae Lewis (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling) and 10 points from junior guard Kamari Talley (Camden, NJ/Creative Arts). The Gothic Knights' sophomore forward Bria Smith (Bayonne, NJ/St. Dominic Academy) had 13 points at the half.
 
The Scarlet Raptors' big lead quickly evaporated after the break as the Gothic Knights scored nine straight points to open the half. That cut the Raptors' lead to 38-34, and NJCU finally took the lead, 4846, with 12:35 remaining on a three-pointer by senior guard Jade Medley (Queens, NY/Hudson Catholic).
 
Although the teams were tied at 48-48, 53-53, 55-55 and 60-60, the Scarlet Raptors never regained the lead. NJCU took the lead for good, 63-60, on a three-pointer by Smith, who finished with a game-high 25 points and completed a double-double with 13 rebounds.
 
Junior forward Desiree Johnson (Red Bank, NJ/Monmouth Regional) notched 14 points, Medley canned 12 and sophomore guard Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) added 10 for the Gothic Knights.
 
Although NJCU shot only 35.2 percent from the floor (25-for-71) to the Raptors' 39.4 (26-for-66) and Rutgers-Camden held a 53-39 advantage off the boards, the Gothic Knights won the all-important turnover battle. NJCU forced 20 Raptor turnovers, while making only eight.
 
Lewis finished with 21 points in her final collegiate game, one shy of her Scarlet Raptor career high. She also completed the 11th double-double, and seventh this season, of her two-year Rutgers-Camden career, grabbing 10 rebounds. Her .465 field goal percentage (120-for-258) this year was the 14th-best single-season mark in program history for all players with the NCAA minimum of three field goals per game while playing in 75 percent of the team's contests.
 
Talley finished with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds. It was her fifth double-double in 15 games since joining the Scarlet Raptors over the semester break.
 
Gravinese ended the night with 14 points, including 4-for-9 shooting from three-point range. She finished her three-year Raptor career as the top three-point field goal shooter in program history, with program records for the most treys in a career (172), a season (73, this year) and a game (eight against the College of Staten Island on Feb. 17, 2014). Her .378 three-point field goal percentage this year was the fourth-highest in single-season program history and her .324 career mark was the best ever at Rutgers-Camden for all players with the NCAA minimum of 125 treys in their career.
 
Gravinese finished with 729 points in 71 games at Rutgers-Camden (10.1 ppg) and had 889 total collegiate points, counting her freshman year at Rosemont College.
 
The lone graduating four-year letterwinner with the Raptors' program, guard/forward Irene Grimanis (Brooklawn, NJ/Gloucester), meanwhile, played in her 98th career game, tying Megan Crank (1992-96) and Tina Croxton (2010-14) for fifth place on the all-time appearance list. She also grabbed 12 rebounds against NJCU – her 12th double-digit rebounding game of the season – and closed the year with a 9.3 rebounding average. She also moved into seventh place on the program's career list with 654 boards, passing Krystal Jankowski, who had 645 rebounds from 2004-08.
 
Freshman guard Cara Racobaldo (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic), meanwhile, got her collegiate career off to a fast start by finishing the year with 106 assists, the sixth-highest season total in program history and one of only eight players to pass 100 in one season. She had a game-high eight assists against NJCU, tying her career high set against Ramapo College Jan. 17. Racobaldo added two steals Wednesday to finish the year with 69.
 
Freshman forward Michelle Obasi (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic) collected a career-high three blocked shots in the game, while adding eight points and six rebounds. She finished her first collegiate season averaging 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds, while leading the club with 12 blocked shots.