Box Score
Rochester, NY…The College of New Jersey women's basketball team advanced to the “Elite Eight” of the NCAA Championships for the second time in program history as the Lions knocked off the University of Rochester on its home floor on Friday by the score of 70-58.
The win puts the Lions in the national quarterfinals on Saturday as they face the University of Scranton at 7 p.m. The Royals slipped past York (PA) College by the score of 50-46.
With the win over the ninth-ranked Yellowjackets, the Lions have now knocked off three ranked opponents in the tournament and extended their winning streak to a season-long 12 straight. TCNJ has also won 23 of its last 24 games. It was also the first time Rochester has lost on its home floor in the NCAA Tournament after winning their first eight.
The 25th-ranked Lions improved to 26-4 with those 26 victories setting a school record. Rochester capped its season at 24-4.
The Lions were led by the inside tandem of senior Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) and junior Alexandra Gregorek (Mahwah, NJ/Academy of Holy Angels) as the duo combined for 33 points. Klimowicz led the way with 19 points with Gregorek adding 14. The team also got plenty of support on the perimeter as senior Nicole Diaz (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) as she netted a career-high 14 points.
The Yellowjackets got off to a fast start in the first half jumping out to a 19-9 advantage. TCNJ battled back with a 12-2 run knotting the score at 21-21. The Lions then went on to take their first lead of the game at 26-24 as sophomore Keri Washington (Ewing, NJ/Pennington Prep) sank a jumper.
The Lions finished the opening half on a 21-7 run to go into the break protecting a 30-26 lead.
TCNJ took a double-figure lead for the first time seven minutes into the second half as sophomore Kelsey Kutch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) scored increasing the lead to 43-33.
The Lions continued to add to that lead as freshman Hannah Tait (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) sank a lay-up that gave the team its biggest lead of the game at 49-33 with just under 10 minutes remaining.
TCNJ Head Coach Dawn Henderson also pointed out that protecting the ball proved to be a key point for the Lions.
“You need to take care of the ball, and we did that. Only 14 turnovers is a miracle. If we play our game and we do what we need to do then we'll do well,” she said.
Rochester hung around the rest of the way closing to 64-58 with less a minute remaining, but were unable to convert from the foul line missing three straight as the Lions sealed the win from the charity stripe making all four attempts in the closing seconds.
The Yellowjackets were led by senior Julie Marriott (Fairport, NY/Fairport) as she netted 16 points.
