Box score

Salisbury, MD... The College of New Jersey women's basketball team allowed too many turnovers and suffered too many offensive droughts as host Salisbury University defeated the Lions 53-49 at the Optimist Classic.

The Sea Gulls (4-1) went on runs of 12-2, 16-0, and 10-0 during the game as Lions (3-4, 0-1) came out on the bottom end of a see-saw battle in Maryland. Although TCNJ battled from start to finish, they were generous with the basketball at times committing 28 turnovers that resulted in 20 Salisbury points.

The Lions had built a 10-point lead in the second half, but saw it evaporate during a five-minute span as the Sea Gulls went on a 16-0 run to take command of the game 38-32 with 11:13 to go. TCNJ pulled within two points at 40-38 on a Keri Washington (Ewing, NJ/Pennington Prep) jumper, but Salisbury responded by rattling off the next 10 points. TCNJ fought hard playing catch-up, but simply ran out of time.

Following their first loss of the season to Hamilton College the previous night, Salisbury jumped out to a 12-2 lead. The Sea Gulls took advantage of the Lions coming out stale as they missed six of their first seven shots of the game and turned the ball over six times in the first six minutes of play.

At the 13:30 mark of the opening half, coach Dawn Henderson called a timeout and pushed all the right buttons. The Lions broke from the huddle and went on an 18-2 run of their own to take a 20-14 lead as junior Kelsey Kutch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) converted a layup with 3:22 remaining. TCNJ held Salisbury scoreless over an 11-minute span of play and closed the half with a 25-16 lead.

The second half lacked consistency, however, as they couldn't seem to establish their rhythm on offense.

A major positive for the Lions was the offensive production from their bench. The bench outscored Salisbury 17-0 as sophomore Jessica Imhoff (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) and junior Stephanie Prall (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) contributed eight and six points respectively. TCNJ also executed much better from the foul line, converting 9-of-10 free throw attempts.

Kutch led the Lions with 12 points. Hannah Tait (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) scored eight points, and Washington chipped in with six points. She was named to the All-Classic team. Freshman Megan Hartline (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) grabbed six boards and scored four points.

TCNJ visits Arcadia University on Tuesday, December 8th at 6 p.m. The Lions next home game is Wednesday, January 6 at 6:00 p.m. against Alvernia College.