Salem CC women use a big fourth-quarter rally to beat Middlesex and keep their playoff hopes alive
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – The Salem CC women’s basketball team could see their playoff hopes slipping away. Something had to happen, and it had to happen fast.
Nyaijah Jackson spoke softly but forcefully at halftime to let her teammates know things had to change. Mighty Oaks coach Brian Marsh was a little louder.
It took a little while for the message to kick in, but the Mighty Oaks ultimately put together a comeback for the ages, rallying from 19 down in the third quarter, to beat Middlesex 61-58 and keep their Region XIX playoff hopes alive.
They trailed by 19 (47-26) with 4:27 left in the third quarter and 15 to start the fourth, then outscored the Colts 26-8 in the fourth quarter to complete a sweep of this four-game scheduling block that was going to determine what their season eventually looked like.
“I knew we had it in us,” Mighty Oaks sophomore Caroline Zullo said. “We all knew we had it in us, we just didn’t show it in the first half. Second half, we decided to pull through. We felt our playoffs were slipping away, so we all collectively decided we’ve got to lock in.”
Teams have to be .500 or better overall or in the region to make the playoffs. The Mighty Oaks are now 10-8 with six games to play meaning all they have to do is find two more wins against the toughest stretch of the schedule.
Four of the remaining games are against teams among the top five Division II teams in the region, starting with undefeated league-leading Union at home Tuesday, and the other two are against the region’s top two Division III teams.
There wasn’t a lot good that happened to the Mighty Oaks in the first half. They missed shots, they turned it over, they allowed the Colts (8-11) to score in the paint. Middlesex scored 22 points in the paint and 12 points off Salem’s 17 turnovers in the first half.
Marsh didn’t think their playoff chances were done at halftime, but he knew things would be harder if they didn’t pick it up because it would mean making something happen on the road.
“I just wasn’t happy with the effort in the first half,” he said. “It felt like the first game at Middlesex and I said it’s up to you guys. I can’t play for you guys, it’s up to you. If you want this game, we’ve got to get our energy up.
“We’ve got to speed this game up and we’ve got to start attacking the basket. Slow’s not our game. We’ve got to play fast. We play better when we’re attacking.”
Jackson spoke up in the dressing room, too, with some colorful language she said she apologized for. But it got the point across.
From the time they were down 19, the Mighty Oaks held the Colts to 3-for-15 shooting from the floor and forced them into 13 turnovers.
After fighting all the way back they finally took the lead 59-58 on a pair of free throws by Zullo with 16.5 seconds left after the Colts turned it over at the other end.
“I felt I might have popped my shoulder out of place,” Zullo said. “I was stressing, it was hurting, so I gave myself a minute or two and took a breath. I knew we needed the foul shots down by one. I at least wanted to go one-for-one and ended up making two. I felt the pressure so I decided to cancel everything out. All right, we need this (she said to herself) and I decided to put them in.”
They sealed it with two Jackson free throws at 2.4 after she was fouled clearing the rebound off a missed Middlesex layup. The Colts never got a final shot, mishandling the inbounds pass in the backcourt as the clock expired.
Jackson led the Mighty Oaks with 18 points, 14 in the second half. Kathryn Laurence had 15 and Jakayla Jenkins had 12. Zullo finished with six points and 12 rebounds.
“I loved it, I loved every second of it,” Jackson said of the comeback. “We gave it all we had to the final minute of the game. Working together and playing together is one of the main things that got us the win today.”
SALEM CC 61, MIDDLESEX 58
MIDDLESEX (8-11) – Yasmen Zafar 1-3 0-0 2, Alyssa Rice 3-10 2-4 8, Jalena Santiago 5-7 2-2 12, Kezia Feaster 2-12 2-4 6, Angelina Peralta-Almonte 4-10 0-0 8, Genilah Singleton 3-6 0-5 6, Julianne Reyes 2-2 0-0 5, Abria Durham 0-0 0-0 0, Reema Azouzi 1-1 0-0 2, Taijaney McCollum 3-7 3-8 9. Totals 24-58 9-23 58.
SALEM CC (10-8) – Nyaijah Jackson 5-12 8-12 18, Caroline Zullo 2-6 2-2 6, Maggie St. Clair 3-11 0-0 6, Kathryn Laurence 5-13 3-4 15, Jakayla Jenkins 5-12 1-4 12, RayNescia King 0-3 1-2 1, Dani Gustin 0-1 0-0 0, Akira Chambers 0-1 0-0 0, Alexa Hopkins 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 21-62 15-24 61.
| Middlesex | 13 | 23 | 14 | 8- | 58 |
| Salem CC | 11 | 11 | 13 | 26- | 61 |
3-point goals: Middlesex 1-7 (Zafar 0-1, Feaster 0-4, Singleton 0-1, Reyes 1-1); Salem CC 4-15 (Jackson 0-1, Zullo 0-1, St. Clair 0-2, Laurence 2-7, Jenkins 1-1, King 0-1, Hopkins 1-2). Rebounds: 44 (Peralta-Almonte 17, McCollum 9, Santiago 7); Salem CC 31 (Zullo 12, Jackson 9). Total fouls: Middlesex 20, Salem CC 17.
| REGION XIX WOMEN’S DIVISION II | REGION | ALL |
| Union | 12-0 | 20-0 |
| Harcum | 8-3 | 15-5 |
| Raritan Valley | 7-3 | 13-7 |
| Lackawanna | 8-4 | 13-6 |
| Mercer | 6-5 | 11-5 |
| Salem | 4-8 | 10-8 |
| Middlesex | 3-7 | 8-11 |
| Essex | 2-9 | 4-10 |
| Delaware Tech | 0-11 | 0-17 |
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