Box Score

 Ewing, NJ … A pair of free throws in the final seconds gave Ramapo College a 50-49 victory over The College of New Jersey women's basketball team in an exciting New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up in Packer Hall on Saturday afternoon.
 
The loss dropped the Lions to 7-4 in the conference and 13-7 overall. The Roadrunners improved to 8-3 in the NJAC (15-5) overall as the win gives them sole possession of second place in league standings.
 
In a back-and-forth battle from start to finish, sophomore forward Alex Milne (Howell, NJ/Howell) hit both foul shots with 5.7 seconds remaining to break a 48-48 tie.
 
Senior Candace Vigo (New Brunswick, NJ/New Brunswick Health Science Technology) had a terrific game for TCNJ, notching career-highs 14 rebounds and five assists. She also led the Lions with nine points. Junior Kelly Roddy (Belmar, NJ/St. Rose) finished with eight points and sophomore Kylie O'Donnell (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling) chipped in with seven points, three boards, and two assists.
 
Junior forward Micaela Moore (Lindenwold, NJ/Lindenwold) registered a double-double with a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jackie Jerkovich (Secaucus, NJ/Academy of Holy Angels) enjoyed a strong outing with 14 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
 
It was all TCNJ in the opening minutes of the game as they burst out to a 10-0 lead. Their defense did not permit a point until Kerrie Kosakowski (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) hit the back-end of two free throws at the 13:14 mark. After a Kelly Coughlin (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) drive to the bucket made it 12-1, Ramapo responded with its first field goal of the game as Moore tallied a conventional three-point play.
 
The Roadrunners did a solid job of maintaining its poise after a slow start and sustained a 9-2 run to close the gap to 14-10. But Coughlin knocked down a big three following a TCNJ timeout to regain control of the contest and led 25-23 at the break.
 
The interior play of Vigo gave the Lions a big advantage in the opening period. She grabbed nine boards, five of which came on the offensive end of the floor as TCNJ out-rebounded the Roadrunners 25-15 in the opening period.
 
The start of the second half was a similar script to the first, only it was the visitors who stormed out of the locker room. Senior Faith Flannery (Keansburg, NJ/Keansburg) pulled up to hit a 10-foot jumper to give Ramapo its first lead of the game 27-25 with 16:56 remaining. The Roadrunners scored the first nine points of the second period before Vigo stopped the bleeding with a free throw and short field goal. She then fed O'Donnell who sliced the bottom of the net from behind the arc to give the Lions a 33-32 lead with 10 minutes to play.
 
A full-court press by Ramapo created turnovers and they capitalized with nine unanswered points. Jerkovich capped the run with a long, 3-point field goal.
 
Trailing 41-35 with six minutes remaining, Roddy took a feed from Vigo and hit a three-point shot. After a defensive stop, junior Liz West (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) took an interior pass from Vigo and banked it home. On the ensuing possession, O'Donnell dished to Roddy, who again drained a shot from behind the arc and the Lions led 43-41 with four minutes to play.
 
With the Lions up 45-43 with two minutes to play, Lion forward Jessica Goldbach (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) and Jerkovich traded 3-pointers. Moore then hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 48 with less than a minute to play. After a Lions' miss, Milne was fouled with 5.7 seconds left on the clock and sank both free throws to secure the win.
 
Goldbach and West each had seven points for TCNJ, while Coughlin finished with six points.
 
The Lions visit Rutgers University-Camden on Wednesday night and return to Packer Hall next Saturday, February 2 when they host Rutgers-Newark at 1 p.m. Ramapo will host Montclair State on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
 
Note: TCNJ athletics celebrated the 27^th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, hosting a free clinic for girls 8 to 13 years of age. Former Lions' standout and 2008-09 NCAA Division III National Player of the Year Hillary Klimowicz spoke to the attendees to kick off the morning. The girls then broke into small groups for an interactive basketball clinic, with a variety of TCNJ female athletes serving as instructors.
 
Guests then watched TCNJ battle Ramapo College and were treated to an autograph session with the Lions' basketball players following the game.