Ewing, NJ – The road to the 2012 New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship will not be an easy one for The College of New Jersey's women's basketball team, but the Lions will have a few advantages when the tournament gets underway on Saturday.
 
The team will have home-court advantage for tournament opener as they host Rutgers-Newark at 1 p.m. in Packer Hall.
 
TCNJ (17-8) is the second seed from the South Division after going through conference play with a 9-4 record. The Lions have played well in Packer hall this season going 8-3 on their home floor. The Scarlet Raiders are the third seed from the North Division as they went 8-5 in the NJAC and are 17-7 overall.
 
The winner of Saturday's game will advance to Tuesday's second-round game at William Paterson University. The Pioneers are the top seed from the North Division and are ranked sixth nationally.
 
A second edge for the Lions is that they are well rested as their regular season came to an end last Saturday, which was a 60-44 win at Rutgers-Camden extending their winning streak to a modest four straight.
 
The Scarlet Raiders enter the tournament winning two straight games with the first of those coming on February 11 against Ramapo (71-55) and the latter on Wednesday at New Jersey City University (47-31).
 
The teams met only once during the regular season with Rutgers-Newark coming away with a 62-55 win in Packer Hall. Senior Jessica Imhof (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) and sophomore Liz West (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) each had solid games for TCNJ as they finished with 13 points each. West also snared a team-high nine rebounds in that game.
 
For the Scarlet Raiders, ShaQuanna Marshall led all scorers with 19 points and Kendra Johnson added 16.
 
Tickets for the game are $5 for adults, $2 for students, children, and senior citizens.