Jersey City, NJ… The College of New Jersey women's basketball team locked up a bye in the upcoming conference tournament as the Lions collected an 87-56 win at New Jersey City University on Saturday in their final road game of the season.
 
The win secured second place for TCNJ as they are 14-3 in New Jersey Athletic Conference play with one game remaining.  That game is Wednesday, February when 11^th-ranked and first-place Montclair State visit Packer Hall in the final game of the regular season. The Red Hawks are 16-1 in conference play and have already clinched a bye and home-court advantage throughout the tournament.
 
The Lions, which has won seven straight and is 18-6 overall, will open the NJAC Tournament on Tuesday, February 25 against a team to be determined.
 
The loss knocked the Gothic Knights to 8-16 overall and 5-12 in the conference.
 
TCNJ never trailed as they netted the game's first six points with senior Liz West (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) sandwiching buckets around on by junior Kylie O'Donnell (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling) for a 6-0 lead.
 
The Lions took their biggest of the period at 35-23 when junior Kelly Coughlin (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) cashed in on a pair of free throws late in the opening period. TCNJ would lead 36-26 at the half with its defense once again coming up big holding NJCU to only a pair of field goals in the final 10 minutes of the period.
 
In the second half, the Gothic Knights made a push midway through the period to get to within 42-36, but the Lion offense had the answer. Sophomore Angelica Esposito (Lincroft, NJ/St. John Vianney) and senior Tiffany DeTulio (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) each knocked down 3-pointers to push the different back to double figures. DeTulio and Coughlin then each hit twice from the line capping off a 10-0 run that saw TCNJ regain control at 52-36.
 
The Lions sealed the game minutes later with another modest run, this time scoring seven straight points pushing the advantage to 59-41. TCNJ cruised from there finishing off the Gothic Knights by the final margin of 87-56.
 
Senior Colleen Duffy (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood) had a very nice game for the Lions with a career-high 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists. She was perfect from long range making all three of her 3-pointers. O'Donnell finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Esposito netted a dozen. West was the fourth Lion to score in double figures with 10.