UNION, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team came to Kean just more than two weeks ago and nearly upset the first-place Cougars before falling in that regular season contest. In Tuesday's NJAC Tournament quarterfinal, the Lions finished the job and upset the top-seeded Cougars, 51-43.
With the win, the Lions advance to the NJAC Tournament semifinals for the third consecutive season, where they will travel to William Paterson on Thursday night.
The key stretch came in the fourth quarter as the Lions broke open a 36-36 tie in the final 3:33 of regulation. The momentum at that time was clearly in Kean's corner after the Cougars held TCNJ scoreless for nearly three minutes while erasing a five-point TCNJ lead.
That scoring drought ended on
Sydney Blum's jumper in the paint to make it 38-36. That basket started a 9-0 TCNJ run that last until there was less than a minute remaining.
Kaitlyn Deiter followed with a layup, and
Julia Setaro hit a three pointer on the next possession to give TCNJ a 43-36 lead after scoring on three straight possessions.
Neither team scored until
Nina Branchizio hit a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left to make it 45-36. After a Kean three, Setaro made two free throws to keep the TCNJ lead at 47-39 with 37 seconds left, and the lead never fell below three possessions. The Lions went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
The Lions mucked it up early, keeping the score low and the game close. TCNJ held Kean to just 18.8 percent from the floor in the first quarter, but the Cougars still had a 10-7 lead after one. Kean led, 21-19, at the half.
TCNJ went just 2-for-13 from the field in the third quarter, but the Lions made seven of their eight free throws in the period to take a 30-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
Setaro led the way with 19 points on the same day that she was named All-NJAC Second Team for the second consecutive season. Branchizio scored 18 points while making four more three pointers. She continues to straddle the edge of qualifying as one of the national leaders in three-point percentage.
TCNJ moves into the semifinals for the third straight year, where it will look to break through to the conference championship game for the first time since 2018. The Lions and Pioneers will battle for that spot in the title game on Thursday at 7 p.m.
