GALLOWAY, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team completed the weekend sweep over Stockton with a 67-55 victory on Saturday.
A 32-point, 12-rebound, and nine-block effort from
Shannon Devitt helped lift the Lions to victory. The nine blocks tie her career high, and the 32 points were only one shy of the senior forward's career high.
Just like Friday's game, TCNJ (2-0, 2-0 NJAC) took command with a strong showing in the third quarter. The Lions came out of halftime holding a 32-26 lead, but used a 16-7 third period to open up a 48-33 lead. In the first game, the Lions outscored the Ospreys, 18-6, in the third quarter.
Stockton recorded the first bucket of the third quarter, yet it was all Lions after that with a 16-5 run to take a 48-33 lead.
Julia Setaro hit a three-pointer off of an assist from
Izzy Leazier to put the Lions ahead, 37-28. After
Elle Cimilluca made a pair of free throws, Devitt sank a jumper to push the lead to 13 with 4:31 left to play in the third.
Leazier scored a put-back after grabbing an offensive board to keep the run flowing and stretch the lead to 43-28.
Sydney Blum set up a Devitt jumper, then Blum struck from beyond the arc to put TCNJ ahead 48-33 at the end of the third period.
Kaitlyn Deiter assisted Blum on the final bucket of the period.
Stockton got to as close as 58-51 with two minutes to play in the game, but the Lions made their free throws to keep the Ospreys at bay. The Lions shot 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes, as Cimilluca went 4-for-4, Setaro went 3-for-4, and Devitt went 2-for-2 down the home stretch.
Devitt shot 10-of-14 from the field and a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line. With the nine blocked shots, Devitt passed
Nikki Schott to move into second place all-time in TCNJ history in blocked shots. Devitt now has 188 rejections in her established career.
Setaro tallied 16 points along with five boards on the evening. Cimilluca scored eight points, grabbed three steals, three rebounds, and dished out three assists.
The Lions will return to the hardwood on Feb. 12, when they will host Rutgers-Camden for a 5:00 p.m. start.
