Box Score

Ewing, NJ…A phenomenal second-half of play by The College of New Jersey women's basketball team resulted in a thrilling 79-78 victory over William Paterson University in Packer Hall on Saturday afternoon.

TCNJ led for only six minutes in the contest, but they were the minutes that counted as they came from behind in spectacular fashion, draining clutch shot after clutch shot down the stretch. The Lions improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, while the Pioneers (2-2, 0-1 NJAC) suffered their first conference defeat of the season.

A long, three-point field goal by junior Kelly Coughlin (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) with 48 seconds remaining gave TCNJ a 79-76 lead. That turned out to be the difference as the Lions' defense held on to come away with a big win.

Junior Kylie O'Donnell (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling led four TCNJ players who finished in double figures. O'Donnell netted a team-high 15 points paired with four assists. Coughlin tallied 14 points, while seniors (Kelly Roddy (Belmar, NJ/St. Rose) and Liz West (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) each finished with 10 points.

Borova and Harris led the offensive charge in the opening 20 minutes for the Pioneers. Borova tallied 16 points, while Harris was 6-of-8 from the floor for 12 points. The Pioneers jumped out to a 21-12 lead early on, but the Lions responded following a full timeout. A three-pointer by Duffy reduced the margin to six before Roddy connected from downtown to cut it to three points.

Senior Floriana Borova (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) put forth a tremendous effort for the Pioneers. She finished with a game-high 32 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Freshman Maya Harris (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) netted 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and local product Dana Jeter (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) dropped in 10 points and grabbed six boards.

WPU was in command in the opening half, shooting 56 percent shooting from the floor. They built a 12-point with four minutes left in the half, but the Lions showed life in the final minutes of the period. Junior Tiffany DeTulio (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) went coast-to-coast off a rebound and then drained a pair of foul shots to make it a 43-36 game at the intermission.

The Pioneers remained in control early in the second half, but TCNJ received a shot in the arm down 56-46 at the 11:23 mark. WPU was called for a foul before a technical ensued. O'Donnell and West converted all four free throws to draw within six points. Coughlin then took a feed out on the left wing and drained a three-pointer to make it a 56-53 match. After a WPU foul, Coughlin knocked back another trey from nearly the same spot off a dish from O'Donnell and the Lions and Pioneers were tied up with 10 minutes to play.

great offensive exchange highlighted the next four minutes of p lay. Jeter hit a big shot to quiet the Lions' momentum, but a backdoor pass from sophomore Christina Merlin (North Brunswick, NJ/Bishop Ahr) to Roddy tied the game at 60. A drive to the basket from O'Donnell gave TCNJ its first lead since the opening minutes. That lead was short-lived as Pioneer Kristina Jackiewicz(Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) found the bottom of the net on a long three. Junior Jessica Goldbach (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens) responded with a three, but Borova answered with a dagger from long distance with six minutes left.

With three minutes to play, Roddy knocked back a three-pointer to lift TCNJ to a 74-73. Coughlin nailed a 15-foot jumper to push the lead to three, but WPU used a layup and free throw by Harris to tie it up with a minute remaining. That set up the final clutch shot of the game by Coughlin.

Goldbach collected a game-high eight rebounds and finished with nine points. Merlin also had quality minutes off the bench, scoring career-high six points and matching a career-best with six boards.

The Lions are back in action this Saturday at 1 p.m. as they host William Paterson University in their New Jersey Athletic Conference opener in Packer Hall.