JERSEY CITY, N.J. – A huge second quarter smack in the middle of a sea of shooting struggles was just enough for the TCNJ women's basketball team to erase a slow start and hang on for a 43-39 victory at New Jersey City on Saturday.

It was by no means pretty, but the result was a beautiful thing for the Lions (6-2, 3-0), who turned to their defense to grind out a low-scoring tussle and exact a measure of revenge for a loss in the NJAC championship game on the same floor last season. TCNJ won its fourth consecutive game and is off to its first 3-0 start in league play since opening the 2018-19 campaign with seven straight NJAC wins.

In a game in which both sides shot below 30 percent from the field, there was one major separating factor: the Lions' second-quarter. TCNJ scored more than half of its points (24) in that frame and, although the overall field-goal numbers were far from eye-popping at 8-for-17, the visitors went 4-for-6 from long range in the period.

It was a much-needed phenomenon for the Lions, who needed almost five minutes to score and trailed 10-0 before Myah Hourigan-Hutton finally got the blue and gold on the board. Still down 12-4 in the late stages of the first quarter, Julia Setaro converted a three-point play, and the rally was on.

The Lions nosed in front for good on the strength of a 19-2 run bridging the end of the quarter, holding the Gothic Knights (1-4, 1-2) to just two points in the first six minutes of the second. TCNJ's offense caught fire, sparked by a run of five straight possessions with a basket – four of them from long range. Nina Branchizio kicked off the stretch with a triple and a jumper before Izzy Leazier knocked down a 3 to give the Lions their first lead (19-16) at the 5:52 mark of the frame. Rookie Katie Fricker connected on deep balls on back-to-back trips, and all of a sudden TCNJ found itself up by nine with 4:31 on the clock.

The Lions maintained that edge at the break and took a 31-22 margin into the second half, and it proved just enough to see out some tense final moments. TCNJ shot just 3-for-23 from the floor after intermission, but still led by double digits at 39-29 on another bucket by Hourigan-Hutton in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

NJCU made its move then, getting within 41-39 with an even 2:00 to play as Damaris Rodriguez sandwiched two buckets around one by Laney Fox. The hosts had plenty of chances to tie or take the lead on the next two possessions, grabbing two offensive rebounds before Rodriguez back-rimmed a would-be go-ahead 3-pointer and missing a tying lay-up on an offensive board by Liyah Allen with 6.1 seconds left. After Morgan Heller secured a critical rebound, Leazier was fouled with 2.1 ticks remaining and calmly sank both free throws to give TCNJ a four-point lead and effectively kill the Gothic Knights' hopes.

Setaro finished with 16 points, including a 7-for-7 effort at the line to extend her made free throw streak to 26 to begin the season. She added six rebounds to finish one shy of Kaitlyn Deiter for the team lead and help TCNJ clinch a slight edge on the boards (42-40).

Leazier tallied seven points and five rebounds, while Fricker had six points and three rebounds.

Rodriguez, the reigning NJAC Player of the Year, led all scorers with 20 points but missed all six of her 3-point attempts for an NJCU squad that went 3-of-19 from downtown.

The Lions aim to continue their unbeaten NJAC start when they host Kean on Wednesday night.