#6 Kean 80, Stockton 64

Julia Fagan

Boxscore
Richard Stockton (17-8, 9-4 NJAC) hung with sixth-ranked Kean (22-3, 12-1) for 34 minutes before withering down the stretch in an 80-64 defeat that belied how well the Ospreys played and how close the game really was. Senior Julia Fagan (New Britain, CT/New Britain) scored a team-high 15 points in her final regular season home game.

Aspen Price-Perry (Lindenwold/Lindenwold) tossed in 14 points, followed by LaTonya Oliver (West Berlin/Overbrook) and Lauren Alwan (Winslow/Timber Creek) with 10 points apiece. Oliver also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. Stockton went 5-10 (50%) from three-point range and 15-20 (75%) at the line in the game.

Che’Na Thompson (Salem/Salem) scored her only five points of the contest in the opening minutes as the Ospreys jumped out to a 14-4 lead. Kean answered with 11 straight points for a 15-14 edge before Fagan ignited a 7-0 spurt with two free throws. The advantage later reached eight on a layup by Fagan with 4:06 on the first-half clock, but Kean cut Stockton’s lead to 37-34 at the break. Price-Perry led all scorers with 10 points.

The second half featured nine lead changes as the Ospreys went toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s best teams. Aliyah Nelson (Pleasantville/St. Joseph) drained a three-pointer to put Stockton on top 63-62 with 6:43 remaining, but Kean took over from there and outscored the Ospreys 18-1 the rest of the way for the misleading 80-64 final score.