NEWARK, NJ - Northampton Community College, ranked #1 in the NJCAA Division III national poll, used a strong second half from Tiara Aziz to overcome a 32-25 halftime deficit and defeat Division II Essex County College, 62-55, on Tuesday evening.

Northampton played a majority of the first half without 2012 All-Region selection Aziz, who picked up two fouls in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game. forcing Head Coach Art Wolfe to juggle his lineup, "obviously Tiara makes a huge difference for us when she is on the floor, we are not the same team when she is on the bench."

Trailing by 7 to start the second half, Aziz returned and scored 6 straight points to make the score 32-31 Essex, before the Spartans went on another run led by Brianna Clymer and Tanisha Blake (10 points), to take a 45-40 lead with 10:33 remaining. 

The teams battled back and forth until Kaila Foster hit a 3-pointer with 5:51 left in the game to give NCC a 50-45 advantage and then Aziz, who finished with 18 points (all in the second half), hit two technical foul shots to put the Spartans up 54-47 and they never looked back in earning the tough road victory.

Katie Schickling had 6 assists and Felicia Shaner hauled down a team-high 9 rebounds for Northampton, which finishes the first semester with a 15-0 overall record.

Division II Essex falls to 3-11 overall.

Northampton returns to action on January 15th when they travel to the Community College of Philadelphia.