Women's Basketball

  Women's Hoops Cruises Past Rutgers-Camden Behind Cooper's Career Night

CAMDEN, N.J. (1/9/08) - Senior center Chari' Cooper (Paulsboro, N.J.) scored 18 points, including the 1000^th of her career, and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Kean University women's basketball team to a 93-45 victory over host Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday evening in New Jersey Athletic Conference action. 

Cooper (pictured right) hit 8-of-11 shots from the floor to become the 15^th player in program history, and second this season following junior guard Melissa Beyruti (Union City, N.J.), to reach the milestone.  Already the school's all-time leading rebounder with more than 1,250 rebounds, Cooper also became just the third player in school history to record 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

The #12/13 Cougars (12-1, 1-1 NJAC) used a 17-2 run to take an early 17-5 lead with 11:30 remaining in the first half and led by as many as 31 points before taking a 50-21 lead at halftime.  The Cougars forced Rutgers-Camden into 23 first-half turnovers, leading to 34 Kean points.

Sophomore guard Cardiss Jackman (Tobyhanna, Pa.) led the Cougars with 13 points, while junior guard Ebony Jackson (Newark, N.J.) added 11 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting.  Senior guard Imani Hafiz (Franklinville, N.J.) led the Scarlet Raptors (4-7, 1-1 NJAC) with eight points. 

In the second-half, Cooper scored 12 of her points and the Cougars led by as many as 50 points en-route to the 48-point victory for their seventh straight win.

Jackson (pictured left) finished with 16 points, six assists and three steals, while Beyruti added 11 points, hitting three three-pointers. 

Hafiz finished with 15 points, including 9-of-12 from the charity stripe, and added three steals, while freshman Karima Blackwell (Somerdale, N.J.) added a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Cougars return home on Saturday, January12, for a NJAC match-up against North Division opponent New Jersey City University.  Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.