Photo courtesy of Ramapo Women's Basketball
The Ramapo College women’s basketball team finished off their roller coaster of a season with a 74-65 victory over the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights – ending this year with a 11-14 overall record. In what became a great send-off for Senior Night and seniors on the team, the Roadrunners ran away with the game utilizing their best strength – unbeatable offense.
The Roadrunners have shown flashes of just how dominant they can be on offense many times throughout the season and this game was just another example of that. Early into the season this women’s team was beating opponents by 20 and even 30-plus points on occasions, proving that once this team got going they couldn’t be stopped.
They respectively started off the season with a commanding 4-0 record, but as the year progressed it was clear this kind of offensive dominance wasn’t sustainable. The team staggered for much of the season, but they never let themselves quit as they battled throughout their games.
Their dominant performance in yesterday’s game showed just how much grit this Roadrunners team has regardless of record.
Ramapo came running out of the gates with 18 points in the first quarter and kept the pedal to the floor for the duration of the game. Juniors Jenna Harsh and Samantha Rinaldi especially put in work, finishing the night with 17 points and 13 respectively. Senior Tia Solomon put on a fantastic performance going 4-5 on FGs and recording nine points.
Rinaldi commented on the season, reiterating the team's struggles and successes throughout the year.
“Throughout the season I felt that with each game we got closer as a team and we always tried to play together and for each other,” said Rinaldi. “In the beginning we saw our potential when we won five games in a row and we always tried to build off of the positive things and focus on good habits when playing.”
And while this team will be swallowing the bitter pill of missing the postseason (NJAC Tournament), they still have to be happy with their performance at the end of the season. With a recent 58-49 win over NJAC rival William Patterson and now a defiant victory over NJCU, this women’s team should be proud with how strong they started and finished their season.
“Winning two NJAC games to close out the season was definitely a good thing for us especially against two competitive teams,” said Rinaldi. “We are looking forward to having a good season next year and hopefully make playoffs. This year we learned a lot and we can only go up from here.”
imccall@ramapo.edu
