NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The TCNJ women's basketball team put the clamps on New England in the second half of Sunday's Tyler Tip-Off Tournament consolation game, dominating the later stages of the contest en route to a 63-51 victory at Smith College.

Julia Setaro led all scorers with a season-high 19 points and Nina Branchizio and Izzy Leazier tallied 13 apiece for the Lions (2-1), who shot the lights out in a high-scoring loss to Rhode Island College the day prior but relied on its defense to secure a bounce-back victory.

The Lions put their defensive stamp on the game from the outset, jumping out to an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes and change as the Nor'easters struggled to get anything going. Branchizio started the scoring with a 3-pointer and added two free throws during the opening salvo, which culminated in a steal and layup by rookie Katie Fricker to force an early UNE timeout.

The Nor'easters closed within 13-9 in the final minute of the frame and stayed within arm's length early in the second, but every time the Lions had an answer. Twice Branchizio nailed a triple to keep UNE at bay, and Fricker made a long ball of her own to put TCNJ up 24-20. The Nor'easters pulled even in the final minute of the first half before Leazier basket through contact sent the Lions into the locker room with a 26-24 lead.

Up by six early in the fourth quarter, the Lions separated themselves for good with an 8-0 run kick-started by an and-one bucket from first-year Myah Hourigan-Hutton. Setaro extended the lead to a dozen with back-to-back jumpers before Hourigan-Hutton hit a pair of free throws to make it 49-35 at the 7:14 mark. UNE never got within single digits again.

Setaro and Branchizio were each a perfect 4-of-4 at the line, and the latter made three of TCNJ's five 3-pointers.

Leazier, who had 16 points on 6-of-7 from the field on Saturday, narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds. Kaitlyn Deiter, Sydney Blum, and Hourigan-Hutton each came up with five boards. Four of Hourigan-Hutton's rebounds came on the offensive glass.

Blum, who scored a career-high 21 the night prior, was named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Lions limited the Nor'easters to 34.7 percent from the field and just 3 of 16 (18.8 percent) from 3-point range, also forcing 21 turnovers.

TCNJ returns to action on Wednesday at Stevens.