EWING, N.J. – A second-half swoon doomed the TCNJ women's basketball team to a 41-37 NJAC setback to Kean on Wednesday night.

The Lions led by 11 points at halftime but managed only nine points after the break and the Cougars managed to eke out a narrow decision to hand the hosts their first league loss of the season.

TCNJ (6-3, 3-1) got the best of a ragged start, scoring the first eight points of a game that needed almost five minutes for either team to dent the scoreboard. The Lions did so first on a long 3-pointer by Nina Branchizio, and Julia Setaro followed with one of her own from the left corner to double the early lead. Kaitlyn Deiter then scored on a nifty move on the left block before the Cougars finally got on the board on a 3 with 3:22 left in the period.

The Lions' spree continued with a pair of free throws by Setaro and a beautiful dish from Branchizio to a cutting Izzy Leazier off a Kean turnover to force a second early timeout form the visitors at the 2:35 mark.

After going 1-for-8 with six turnovers on their first 12 trips, the Cougars scored on back-to-back trips to get within 12-7 at the end of the period, and it was a 14-9 game before the Lions began to take more control.

Morgan Heller connected on a baseline jumper before delivering a pinpoint backdoor pass to a cutting Setaro for a layup to make it 18-9, and the lead swelled to double figures for the first time when Sydney Blum found space after her defender fell to the ground and she buried a left-wing triple with 2:28 to go in the first half. The margin stayed there at the break, with Kaitlyn Deiter beating the buzzer with a lefty lay-in to put the hosts on top, 28-17.

Kean (5-3, 3-1) turned it over 13 times in the first half, and the Lions turned those miscues into 11 points on the other end.

The Cougars turned to a trapping press to go on a third-quarter spurt, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the frame to get within 30-26 and force a TCNJ timeout with 3:57 to play. Kean's run continued and resulted in the visitors' first lead on a three-point play by Kayla Anderson at the 1:53 mark.

After 13 consecutive misfires to begin the third, Heller stopped the drought with a nice move to get inside the Cougars' center and bank in a twisting lay-in to give the lead back to the Lions on the next trip.

The lead changed hands twice more to begin the third, TCNJ going in front for the last time on two free throws by Emily Toy with 9:14 left.

Those were the Lions' last points for more than six minutes, but thanks to more stellar defensive play, the Cougars only managed to take a three-point lead in that time. Deiter broke the scoreless stretch with a tough lay-up, but Shannon McCoy did the same on the other end to give Kean a 39-36 lead with 2:14 remaining.

Both sides continued to rue missed opportunities, and Kean gifted TCNJ another one with two missed free throws inside the final half minute. After a foul on the other end, Branchizio split a pair to make it 39-37 with 16.8 ticks showing.

The Cougars also made one of two on the other end, giving TCNJ another chance to tie with a triple. Setaro got a good look off a back screen and a nice pass from Branchizio, but her potential tying trey was off the mark, and one more free throws on the other end effectively put the contest to bed.

TCNJ was ice cold in the second half, going 2-for-28 from the floor and missing all 12 of their 3-point attempts.

Maya Edwards finished with a game-high 15 for the Cougars, including 12 in the first half to keep TCNJ within arm's reach. McCoy, the reigning NJAC Player of the Year, was held to just eight but did manage to pull down eight rebounds to go with Shahd Badeer's 12. Kean outrebounded the Lions, 41-28, and collected 11 offensive boards.

Despite their defensive prowess, which resulted in 26 Kean turnovers, the Lions never found a rhythm offensively. Deiter (six points, four rebounds) and Heller (four points) combined to make five of their 10 field-goal attempts, but the rest of the team was just 7-for-40.

Setaro scored a team-high 13 points and was 6-for-6 at the foul line, giving her 32 consecutive free-throws makes to open the year and 42 in a row dating back to last season.

The Lions head to Montclair State on Saturday for their final NJAC contest of 2022.