STOCKTON DOWNED BY TCNJ 71-65

LaTonya Oliver

Boxscore

Richard Stockton (12-9, 4-6 NJAC) came up a little short in its effort to break out of a slump that has now reached five games as the Ospreys fell to College of New Jersey (14-8, 6-4) 71-65.

LaTonya Oliver (West Berlin/Overbrook) nearly carried the Ospreys to victory with a dominant performance. Oliver shot 12-13 from the field and scored a career-high 28 points, and she also grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.

Lauren Alwan (Winslow/Timber Creek) also hit double digits with 12 points. Che’Na Thompson (Salem/ Salem) filled the stat sheet with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Stockton shot a dismal 3-21 from three-point range (14.3%) and just 10-18 at the line (55.6%).

Thompson scored five points during a 9-4 spurt that gave Stockton a slim 14-11 lead with nine minutes gone in the game. TCNJ outscored the Ospreys 20-7 the rest of the half and Stockton faced a 31-21 at the break. Thompson was the high scorer for the Ospreys with seven points, but they shot just 24.3% from the floor and hit just one of 10 three-point tries.

Oliver went wild for Stockton in the second half, scoring 22 of her team’s 44 points after intermission while Alwan contributed 11 more. Oliver netted eight markers as the Ospreys started the period with a 10-2 run that pulled them within 33-31.

After TCNJ rebuilt a 10-point cushion, Alwan scored five points during a 7-0 outburst that closed the gap to 43-40. Stockton made it a one-possession game twice more on a layup by Alwan at the 7:08 mark (54-51) and then two free throws by Alwan with 6:20 to play (56-53), but the Ospreys could not overtake TCNJ and they fell 71-65.