Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (15-10, 12-6 NJAC) finished the regular season on a down note, with an 81-62 loss to Kean University (16-9, 13-5 NJAC). Imene Fathi (Wildwood/Wildwood) led the Ospreys with 19 points.
 
Both teams started quickly in the first period with the Cougars hitting at a 60.0% (9-15) clip while the Ospreys made 6-14 (42.9%) in the frame. The contest was knotted four different times during the quarter before the visitors scored five of the final seven points to take a 19-16 advantage. Grace Speer (Estell Manor/ACIT) led six Ospreys in the scoring column with four markers.
 
Kean tallied nine of the first 11 points in the second period to forge a lead at 28-18 at the 4:18 mark. The margin stayed at 10 points at 30-20 before Stockton ripped off five straight points, three by Emma Morrone (Maywood/Hackensack) to close to 30-25 with 1:48 to play before half. It would be the closest Stockton would come in the contest.
 
The visitors ended the period with a seven point run to offset a three ball by Fathi to take a 37 -28 advantage to the locker room.
 
The squads played evenly in the third stanza, but the Cougars were able to extend their advantage to 57-45, outscoring the home team 20-17 during the frame. The fourth period became academic as Kean kept up the pressure and came away with the 81-62 victory.
 
Fathi made 7-13 (53.8%) from the field including 4-7 from behind the arc for the game. Speer totaled 14 points and seven rebounds with four blocks for the game, while Morrone dished a game-high 7 assists.
 
Kean was led by freshman Gigi Gamble scoring a game-high 30 points, with 24 coming in the second half. Riley Ahrens added 13 points with Brittany Graff tallying 12 points and a team-high four assists. Shahd Badeer posted a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, to go with a game-high five blocks.
 
The Ospreys end the regular season with their highest finish in league play since 2017-18 when they qualified third for the NJAC Tournament. It is also the highest win total in conference play since the same season when Stockton won 13 NJAC games.
 
Stockton will begin the NJAC Tournament as the number four seed and will host a first round game on Saturday against fifth seed Ramapo College. Tipoff is at 1 pm.