If the Roadrunner women's basketball team ever needed a quick bounce back, they needed it when they traveled to Mercer Community College on Tuesday afternoon.
They got it.
The Runners, who lost a tough decision to Sussex County this past weekend while surrendering 61 points alone to Skylander star Alyssa Aragona, moved back into the win column with a 78-63 triumph over Mercer.
The win raised their overall record to 12-5 and 9-2 in the conference, but more importantly gave the team a huge boost in confidence.
"We had to get back to defense -- we lost our focus defensively against Sussex," said Cooper. "We score 78 points per game on average -- we're fourth in the country offensively -- but we need to stop people defensively. That wasn't us last week."
Against the Vikings, the Runners raced to leads of 22-15 in the first quarter and 39-30 at halftime in never looking back.
Leading the scoring attack were forwards Qeiajae Canty with 23 points and Trina Deveney-Bethea with 24. Guard Kylar Coughlin enjoyed a solid offensive and defensive outing with 12, points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals.
"We had consistent offense but more importantly we were steady on the defensive front," said Cooper. "This was a nice rebound after our loss last weekend."
Cooper's team will host Community College of Philadelphia in a contest Thursday starting at 5 p.m.
Game Day Information
The RCSJ Gloucester Women's Basketball team will try and bounce back from a loss this weekend to Sussex County when they visit Mercer County Community College Tuesday night in a 5 pm start. Game Day Information is below.
RCSJ-Gloucester vs. Mercer County Community College
January 14, 5:00 pm
Hosted by:
West Windsor Campus
1200 Old Trenton Road
West Windsor, NJ 08550Mercer County Community College
Coaches:
Rich Cooper RCSJ Gloucester
Frederick Mike Tenaglia, Mercer
Records:
Roadrunners: 11-5 overall, 9-2 Conference, 9-2 Region
Vikings : 4-9 overall, 3-4 Region