Ewing, NJ… The Lions of The College of New Jersey’s women’s basketball team hosted Rowan in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up on Saturday afternoon in Packer Hall. In TCNJ’s first home game since December 6, the Lions  triumphed 66-45 to improve 7-8 overall and 2-2 in the NJAC, while Rowan drops to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in the league.

Rowan opened the game on a 7-2 run before the Lions answered with a run of their own to take a 9-7 lead with 15:53 left to play in the first half. The Lions would hold on and take a 32-29 halftime lead into the locker room. Junior forward Sara Best (High Bridge, NJ/Voorhees) added 11 of her game-high 16 points in the first half, while the team forced 13 turnovers in the session and collected nine steals. Best finished with a double-double as she had a season-high 10 rebounds to pace the Lions.

Senior Breanne Depken (Oradell, NJ/River Dell Regional) picked up 12 rebounds for the Lions as TCNJ held a 58-38 edge on the boards in the contest. Rookie center Alexandra Gregorek (Mahwah, NJ/Academy of the Holy Angels) added 11 rebounds in the contest as well.

Rowan’s junior guard Kristina Wallace (Logan Township, NJ/Clearview Regional) led the Profs in the first half with seven points and finished as the only Prof in double digits as she has 11 points. Senior forward Lauren Byrne (Paulsboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) had nine of her 13 rebounds in the first half and added six points.

With 6:25 left to play, the Lions held a 20 point lead, 55-35 and went on to record the 21 point win. TCNJ returns to action on January 17 when they travel to Rutgers University-Camden for a 6:00 p.m. NJAC match-up with the Scarlet Raptors, while Rowan University hosts Kean University that same night also at 6:00 p.m.