Gwynedd Valley, PA … The College of New Jersey women's basketball team dropped a 71-67 decision to Misericordia University in the championship game of the Gwynedd-Mercy Tip-off Tournament.
 
The Lions (1-1) came up just shy in a contest that witnessed an extraordinary shooting performance from junior Cindy Napolitano (Wall, NJ/St. Rose). Napolitano was a perfect 7-for-7 in three-point attempts, posting a game-high 21 points. Freshman Jen Byrne (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) also produced big numbers on offense, scoring 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
 
The Cougars were led by 6' 2" senior forward Justine Seely. She registered a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Misericordia had four players in double figures and held a sizeable advantage under the boards, outrebounding TCNJ 50-31. That led to 19 second-chance points, which was a major factor in the outcome.
 
Lions' junior Nikki Schott (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills) hit jumper early in the second quarter to draw within two points at 19-17. But the Cougars outscored TCNJ 14-4 the remainder of period to build a 38-21 halftime lead.
 
Trailing by 15 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Lions found their shooting stroke. Napolitano drained back-to-back threes to make it a nine-point game. Misericordia responded with a pair of buckets, but Byne connected from behind the arc and two free throws by Katie O'Leary (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) cut the deficit to single digits entering the final quarter.
 
TCNJ came within a point when Schott knocked down both of her free throw attempts to make it a 54-53 game with 6:30 to play. The Cougars extended their lead back to five points with 2:39 to play, but the seventh three-pointer of the game from Napolitano closed the gap to 61-59. Both teams traded baskets down the stretch, but the Lions could not wrestle the lead away from Misericordia.
 
Schott finished with 13 points and six rebounds. She was named to the All-Tournament Team for her standout play over the weekend. Junior Charlotte Schum (East Hanover, NJ/Morris Catholic) added a team-high five assists and five boards.
 
TCNJ will play in its home opener on Tuesday night when they host Rutgers University-Camden in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up scheduled for 6 p.m.