TCNJ looking to bounce back from first league loss

Life on the road in the New Jersey Athletic Conference can be tough as The College of New Jersey women’s basketball team found out on Wednesday evening at William Paterson.

With the second half of the NJAC schedule quickly approaching, could that loss to the Pioneers be a blessing in disguise?

“I am hopeful that it is a wakeup call for us heading into the second half of conference play,” second-year coach Chessie Jackson said. “At the end of the day, one loss doesn’t define our entire season and we need to keep preparing for each team and find a way to be ready for the pressure that is inevitably going to be thrown at us.”

Next up for TCNJ (8-6, 7-1 NJAC) is a trip to Kean (6-9, 3-5 NJAC) for a contest set for tip-off at 3 p.m.

While the Paterson loss was the first in the conference, it didn’t cost the Lions firat place as they continue to hold a onegame lead over Montclair State, Rutgers-Newark and Rowan (all 6-2 in the league).

“Kean is well-coached and competitive,” Jackson said. “They’re young, but you can see that even through some losses they are finding chemistry on court and executing better and better. I think they’ll pose similar problems for us that WPU did, pressure mostly.”

The Cougars rebound well and it’ll be imperative for TCNJ to control that aspect of the game. The Lions have a pretty darn good rebounder in Shannon Devitt, though.

Devitt, the reigning NJAC Rookie of the Year, hasn’t skipped a beat in her sophomore season. She leads the conference in caroms with 13.4 per game.

Devitt averages 12.6 points and leads Division III with 11 double-doubles.

“The awesome thing is that she is so hungry to keeps improving,” Jackson said. “She wants to watch film, get extra work on court, and she does the little things in practice every day. That’s why she’s good. I’m excited to see how she continues to develop as a leader for our team.”