Raptor of the Week: Lisa Geiger

RAPTOR OF THE WEEK
Lisa Geiger (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester)

Junior guard/forward Lisa Geiger had a big game Dec. 4 as the Rutgers-Camden women’s basketball team rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to post a 62-49 overtime win at Ramapo College. Geiger tied her career high of 10 points, including a game-tying three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in regulation, and added a career-high 14 rebounds to post a double-double. She also had 10 points against Rowan Dec. 1 en route to earning the second Raptor of the Week honor of her career. Her first one came Jan. 5, 2004.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (2-4/1-3)
Mon., Nov. 29 Montclair State University 62, Rutgers-Camden 44
Wed., Dec. 1 Rowan University 72, Rutgers-Camden 61
Sat., Dec. 4 Rutgers-Camden 62, Ramapo College 49 (OT)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Mon., Dec. 6 Goucher College 6 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 8 The College of New Jersey 6 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 8 at Lehman College 12 p.m.
Tues., Dec. 14 at Cabrini College 6 p.m.

After starting their New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule with three defeats, the Lady Raptors showed plenty of resolve while rallying from a 14-point second-half deficit to win at Ramapo College Dec. 4.

Junior guard/forward Lisa Geiger (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester) scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, and freshman guard Imani Hafiz (Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional) collected eight points and four rebounds in a 16-3 overtime run as Rutgers-Camden outlasted Ramapo, 62-49, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.

The Raptors hit three of their six field goal attempts in overtime and iced the game from the foul line, going 10-for-12 from the charity stripe in the extra five minutes. Hafiz had two field goals and four foul shots as she scored all eight of her points in overtime. She also finished with six rebounds and a team-high four steals.

Geiger, who sent the game into overtime when her three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining tied the score at 46-46, notched two points and grabbed three rebounds in the extra five-minute session.

Ramapo missed all 12 of its field goal attempts in overtime to finish 14-for-71 (19.7 percent) from the floor for the game. Rutgers-Camden shot 20-for-61 (32.8).

Ramapo grabbed a 19-12 lead before the Raptors cut their deficit to 22-18 at halftime. The Roadrunners went on a 12-2 run early in the second half to open up a 34-20 lead, but Rutgers-Camden bounced back with a 19-2 run of its own, finally taking a 39-36 lead with 6:13 remaining on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Kelly Stafford (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester).

Ramapo held a 46-43 with 1:14 remaining before Geiger’s trey sent the game into overtime.

Geiger’s 10 points tied her career high, which was accomplished for the fourth time, including the second straight game. Geiger’s 14 rebounds not only tied for game-high honors with Ramapo’s junior guard Vanessa Vargas, but it shattered her previous career high of eight rebounds, also accomplished four times. The most recent time came against Montclair State (Jan. 28, 2004).

Geiger wasn’t the only Lady Raptor to post a double-double, as junior center Megan Rulon (Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional) collected 11 rebounds and game-high totals of 14 points and four blocked shots. Rulon entered the game averaging 4.4 blocked shots per contest to lead the NJAC.

The Raptors also received 12 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists from freshman guard Krystal Jankowski (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) and 10 points and nine rebounds from Stafford.

For the Roadrunners, Vargas had 14 rebounds, a team-high 11 points and a game-high nine steals. A pair of Ramapo starters, freshman center Alison Beller and senior guard Janine Cappadona each added eight points for the Roadrunners. Cappadona also notched a game-high four assists.

Ramapo junior forward Danielle Hunt collected seven points and six rebounds.

Senior guard Jaime McCormack scored 11 of her 21 points in the first half as Rowan University took the lead for good and the Profs went on to defeat Rutgers-Camden, 72-61 , an NJAC game Dec. 1 in Camden.

In a first half of runs, the Profs opened up an 11-3 lead before the Lady Raptors bounced back to pull ahead, 16-13 on a three-pointer by Stafford. The Raptors built a 28-21 lead before Rowan bounced back with a run of its own, grabbing a 29-28 lead and increasing the margin to 41-32 at the half.

Junior guard/forward Carmen Zimmitt (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown) had eight first-half points for the Lady Raptors.

Rutgers-Camden cut the gap to four points (43-39) early in the second half before the Profs pulled away, taking leads as large as 65-48. The Raptors cut the gap to 68-61 with 49 seconds remaining, but couldn’t get any closer.

McCormack added seven rebounds and a team-high five steals to her game-high 21 points, while senior guard Kami Bernardo had 13 points and six rebounds, along with a game-high four assists. Junior forward Marie Miller had 11 points for the Profs and senior forward Stephanie Finke grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

For the Raptors, Rulon had 15 points and game-high totals of 10 rebounds and five blocks. Zimmitt finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Jankowski and Geiger each notched 10 points. Jankowski also had a game-high six steals.

In their first game of the week, the visiting Lady Raptors saw Montclair State University score the first 11 points of the game en route to a 62-44 NJAC victory Nov. 29.

Sophomore forward Stephanie Machin led all players with 18 points for the Red Hawks, while freshman guard Jessica Horan contributed 10 points. The Red Hawks also got nine rebounds and six points from freshman Jessica Garrabrant and five assists from junior guard Amy Snyder.

Rulon paced the visiting Scarlet Raptors with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while Jankowski also grabbed 11 caroms and added eight points.

Stafford also added eight points for the Lady Raptors, while Zimmitt had six points and eight rebounds.

Montclair State built a 33-20 halftime advantage and finished the night shooting 22-for-54 (40.7 percent) from the floor, while Rutgers-Camden hit only 15 of 53 field goal attempts (28.3).

MEN’S BASKETBALL (0-5/0-3)
Wed., Dec. 1 Rowan University 82, Rutgers-Camden 63
Sat., Dec. 4 Ramapo College 119, Rutgers-Camden 64

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Mon., Dec. 6 at Widener University 7 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 8 The College of New Jersey 8 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 11 vs. Medgar Evers College (at Lehman College) 2:15 p.m.
Thurs., Dec. 30 at La Roche College 6 p.m.

The young Scarlet Raptors ran into a pair of the top teams in the New Jersey Athletic Conference last week, dropping a pair of games against Rowan University and Ramapo College.

In their opening game of the week, the Raptors watched Rowan senior guard Ryan Cochrane score 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, sparking the Profs to an 82-63 NJAC win in Camden Dec. 1.

Rowan has won the last five games in the series and 47 of the last 51.

The Profs never trailed in the game, although the score was tied at 2-2 and 4-4. Rowan broke that last tie with an eight-point run to make it 12-4, and the closest the Scarlet Raptors got after that was a 16-13 deficit.

Cochrane added a game-high six assists to his 21 points, while guard/forward Tim Bowser and guard Bob Weir each notched 16 points for the Profs. Freshman Matt Byrnes collected 15 points and a game-high six rebounds for Rowan, which held a 33-32 edge off the boards. Rowan also placed freshman Mike McCarthy in double figures with 12 points.

For Rutgers-Camden, senior guard Tyrone Rucker (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken) had 16 points and sophomore Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) added 12.

Rutgers-Camden closed its week with a long trip to Ramapo College and a longer game as the Roadrunners placed five players in double figures en route to a 119-64 NJAC win. The Roadrunners were led by 24 points from junior forward Todd Lowber.

The 119 points were the most points allowed by Rutgers-Camden since a 120-54 loss to Rowan Jan. 17, 1996, and the 55-point margin was the Raptors’ largest defeat since a 57-point loss to Richard Stockton (114-57) Jan. 26, 2000.

Ramapo built a 71-29 halftime lead and ended up shooting 52.3 percent from the floor (45-for-86) in the game. The Roadrunners shot 53.8 percent from three-point range (14-for-26) and held a commanding 61-32 advantage off the boards.

Rutgers-Camden went 22-for-64 (34.4) from the floor, including 8-for-29 from three-point range (27.6).

Lowber added 10 rebounds to his 24 points as he was one of three Roadrunners to produce a double-double. Senior guard Amin Wright almost had a triple-double, scoring 16 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and adding nine steals. He also dished off a game-high six assists.

Freshman forward Shawn Frost had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Ramapo, while sophomore guard John Wojcik scored 15 points and freshman guard Ahmad Mosby added 13.

Ramapo placed 13 players in the scoring column.

Rutgers-Camden was paced by freshman guard Amir Fantroyal (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek), who scored 17 points and added five steals. Junior guard Paul Turkot (Haddon Township, NJ/Haddon Township) scored a career-high 16 points, while freshman guard Kenny Yu (Queens, NY/Townsend Harris) had 13 points and junior forward Josh Kennedy (Westmont, NJ/Haddon Township) added 12.