SCRANTON, Pa. – The TCNJ women's basketball team led, 22-5, at the end of the first quarter as it defeated Stevenson, 61-50, on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Scranton Poinsettia Classic.
Nina Branchizio scored a game-high 19 points to pace the Lions, including eight in the first quarter.
Branchizio paced that first-quarter run with back-to-back three pointers for TCNJ's first points of the game.
Emily Toy followed a Stevenson basket with a three of her own to make it 9-3 TCNJ, sparking a 14-0 run for the Lions.
Izzy Leazier scored four points on the run, and
Isabella Cafaro scored five points in the final minute to send the Lions to a 22-5 advantage after one quarter.
The Lions shot 60 percent in the first quarter, and they went 4-for-7 from three-point range.
After not scoring in the first quarter,
Sydney Blum came out with a pair of three pointers early in the second quarter. The second of those pushed the TCNJ lead to 28-7 with 7:20 remaining. Those makes accounted for half of Blum's points on the night. She finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, making four three pointers in five attempts.
Stevenson went on a 10-0 run in the second quarter, but the TCNJ lead was so large by that point that it only cut the Lions' lead to 35-22 at the completion of the run.
Julia Setaro broke the run with a pair of free throws with 44 seconds left in the half. TCNJ led, 38-24, at the intermission.
TCNJ pushed the lead back to more than 20 points in the third quarter. Branchizio hit two more three pointers early in the third to make it 44-26, and
Arianna McCleod scored four points in succession to make it 48-26. Branchizio followed with another three pointer to make it 51-26 with 3:58 left in the third. Blum hit her other two shot from three-point range late in the quarter to make it 57-31 after the third.
McCleod had nine points and four rebounds.
The Lions nursed that lead through the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 28 on a
Morgan Heller layup before the Mustangs fruitlessly chipped away at the margin.
TCNJ will now play in the tournament championship against host Scranton, a 53-44 winner over Dickinson in the nightcap, on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
