Box Score

Ewing, NJ…The College of New Jersey women's basketball team hosted the Sea Gulls of Salisbury University in a non-conference game in Packer Hall on Monday night. TCNJ posted a 47-36 win to improve to 9-3 on the season, while Salisbury falls to 4-8 overall. TCNJ's defense held SU to a season-low 36 points on the night, while allowing just 15 points in the second half of play.

The Lions held a 22-21 halftime lead as junior center Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) paced TCNJ with eight points and six rebounds in the first stanza of play. TCNJ shot only 33.3% from the floor (11-33) and was unsuccessful from three-point range as they were 0-8.

SU's junior guard Monica Merkel (Walkersville, MD/St. John's) had nine points in the first half after shooting 4-6 from the floor. The Sea Gulls also struggled from three-point range in the first half as they were 0-4 from beyond the arch.

The Lions would go on a 10-0 run to open play as they held SU scoreless until the 13:52 mark of the second half. Klimowicz would add her eighth double-double of the season as she would net 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win, freshman forward Kelsey Kutch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) also had a strong performance as she tallied 10 points with nine rebounds and nine steals in pacing the Lions to the convincing victory, the third in a row for the Lions.

Merkel led the Sea Gulls with 11 points and shot 50% from the floor (5-10) as SU and TCNJ finished with 47 rebounds each. TCNJ forced 27 turnovers and added 18 steals along the way.