EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team turned a tight NJAC clash with Rowan into a rivalry runaway with a dominant second half on Wednesday night, imposing their will on both ends of the floor on the way to a 71-52 statement victory.

Nina Branchizio led three players in double figures and Izzy Leazier notched a double-double for the Lions (5-2, 2-0), who outscored the Profs by 15 after halftime and led by double digits for almost the entirety of the second stanza.

TCNJ held Rowan – picked second in the NJAC preseason poll – to under 30 percent from the field (16-of-54, 29.6 percent) and a 1-for-16 effort from 3-point range, all while making a dozen triples of its own on the other end. The Profs finished with more turnovers (18) than field goals (16), and the Lions converted those miscues into 23 critical points.

Setaro dished out a season-high seven assists for TCNJ, which assisted on 17 of its 22 made field goals.

Branchizio was on target early, making a deep step-back triple to put the Lions up 8-5 and splashing another from the right wing to tie it at 11 on TCNJ's final possession of the first quarter.

Trailing 13-11 after one, the hosts started the second stanza on an 8-2 run capped by a bullet pass from Setaro to Morgan Heller, whose quick left-handed lay-up was just in time to beat the shot-clock buzzer.

The lead changed hands several times until the closing minutes of the half, when a 10-1 burst put the Lions in command. Kaitlyn Deiter tied it at 26 on another dime by Setaro, and Izzy Leazier made two free throws on each of the next two trips to open up a four-point lead. The advantage swelled to six when TCNJ broke the Profs press for an easy bucket as Leazier found Deiter wide open at the hoop for a lay-in, and a late basket by Rowan made it a 32-28 Lions edge at the break.

Leazier lived at the line in the first half, making all but one of her eight attempts.

The Lions put the game out of reach with an early blitz in the third quarter, draining a trio of 3-pointers to extend the lead to 41-28 before the Profs finally snapped a lengthy scoring drought.

Rowan, however, never managed to get within single digits again. Sydney Blum rattled home a deep pull-up jumper and Branchizio swished another straight-on try, this time on a kick-out by Heller, to make it 46-30 just past the midway point of the quarter. Leazier's corner trey ended a brief 5-0 run by Rowan and restored a 14-point lead (49-35).

TCNJ put the game to rest with the first seven points of the fourth, starting with a follow-up by Deiter and continuing with five quick points from Setaro, whose jumper in the paint made it 58-37 with 6:56 to go. The Lions led by as many as 25 (64-39) on a 3-pointer by Katie Fricker.

Branchizio made five 3-pointers en route to her game high, while Leazier pulled down 11 defensive rebounds for her first career double-double. Setaro landed on 12 points to go with seven assists and four rebounds.

Deiter (six points, four rebounds, four assists, three blocks) and Blum (five points, five rebounds) were effective in the paint, with help from Heller and Isabelle Cafaro (four points apiece).
After some early turnovers, the Lions settled in and continuously capitalized on Rowan's aggressive press, collecting 15 fast-break points.

The Lions head to preseason favorite New Jersey City on Saturday for a rematch of last year's NJAC title game.