CAMDEN, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team won its sixth straight meeting with Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday night. The Lions topped the Scarlet Raptors by a final tally of 61-52. TCNJ improved to 14-7 on the season including 11-3 in NJAC action, while Rutgers-Camden fell to 11-10 and 4-10 in the conference.

The Lions raced out to a big lead early on, as they began the night with a 26-9 stretch. Over three minutes in, Jen Byrne knocked down a three-pointer to give TCNJ a 9-2 lead. Sydney Blum recorded the next bucket for TCNJ when she hit a trifecta of her own. Elle Cimilluca kept the hot shooting going, and she hit from behind the arc to push the lead to 15-4.

As the first quarter wound down, Blum made consecutive three-pointers. Her third triple of the first put TCNJ up, 21-4, with 2:53 remaining in the period. TCNJ led, 21-7, at the end of the opening quarter.

A lay-up from Shannon Devitt pushed the Lion lead to 24-9 over two minutes into the second quarter. The Lions took a 26-9 edge when Cimilluca sank a jumper with 6:26 to play in the half. Rutgers-Camden was able to diminish the lead, as the Scarlet Raptors pulled to within 30-18 by the end of the second quarter.

Byrne recorded the first basket of the third quarter. She drained a three-pointer to bump the lead to 15. After that, the Scarlet Raptors got back in the game with a 9-0 run. Devitt put a halt to their momentum when she hit a jumper to push the advantage to 35-27.

Morgan Heller converted on a lay-up to put the Lions up, 37-27, with 3:30 to play in the third quarter. The Scarlet Raptors continued to battle, and they cut the TCNJ lead to just 39-33 late in the third. Devitt continued to attack the basket, as she recorded the last five points of the quarter to give the Lions a 45-33 lead at the end of the third.

Rachel Gazzola's three-pointer gave the Lions a 52-36 lead with seven minutes to play. TCNJ captured its largest lead of the night when Cimilluca made a jumper with 5:31 to go in the game. Her bucket extended the advantage to 57-38. The Scarlet Raptors shrank that deficit, but the Lions held them off and grabbed the victory.

Devitt posted her eighth double-double of the season to lead TCNJ. She scored 19 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Blum scored a career-high 15 points coming off of the bench. She shot 6-of-8 from the field including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Blum had a strong all-around game, as she also grabbed nine rebounds and recorded four steals. Cimilluca scored 10 points and registered three steals.

The Lions had a big edge in points off the bench, as TCNJ outscored Rutgers-Camden 16-2 in that category.

TCNJ has held the upper hand in this recent series history, as the Lions are now 22-5 against the Scarlet Raptors dating back to the 2006-07 season.

Next up for the Lions is a home game against Ramapo on Feb. 8. That will also be TCNJ's senior day.