EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team could hardly miss if it tried during a red-hot first-quarter spree that set the hosts well on the right track to a 72-50 NJAC victory over Rutgers-Newark in a Wednesday matinee.
 
Julia Setaro hit three of her four 3-pointers in the opening frame as the Lions (11-4, 6-2) broke it open early and cruised to a wire-to-wire rout for their fifth consecutive victory. Nina Branchizio made two treys of her own in the first 10 minutes, during which TCNJ went 10-for-14 from the floor and knocked down five triples.

With the win and Ramapo's loss at William Paterson, the Lions pulled into a tie with the Roadrunners for first place in the NJAC.
 
The Lions got off to a red-hot start, needing less than three minutes to storm out to a double-digit lead. Setaro knocked down a trio of 3-pointers, the last two on consecutive possessions as TCNJ went in front, 11-1, and forced an early Newark timeout; the first triple came on a kick-out by Kaitlyn Deiter, the second on a pass to the corner from Sydney Blum, and the third on a skip pass that Branchizio whipped cross-court to the left corner to highlight a trove of crisp ball movement in the early going.
 
Katie Fricker got involved off the bench right away, grabbing a long offensive rebound and driving to the hoop for a bucket plus the foul. After Nina Branchizio drilled back-to-back triples from the same spot on the left wing, the Lions had opened up a 22-5 lead.
 
TCNJ started 9-for-12 from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range en route to establishing a 26-13 advantage and new season benchmark for first-quarter points.
 
The onslaught continued in earnest, with Leazier converting a three-point play on a fast break and then forcing the issue to draw a foul on a drive and hitting both free throws to make it 31-15. Leazier then drove and kicked out to Branchizio for a deep right-wing trey – her third of the half – and Emily Toy hit a free throw to extend the margin to 20 (35-15) at the 6:08 mark.
 
Leazier made it an 8-0 run with a remarkable high-arcing scoop while splitting defenders in the lane, part of an exceptional first half in which she scored nine points on 3-of-3 shooting.
 
Setaro's fourth 3-pointer of the half – on as many attempts – pushed the spread to 40-18 at the 2:42 mark, and the Lions pulled into the intermission with a 44-20 lead.
 
After a scoreless first half, Deiter got going early in the second stanza, scoring twice on left-handed layups in the post in the first three minutes of the third quarter.
 
Isabella Cafaro's back-to-back 3's from the top of the key made it a 30-point game (58-28) for the first time late in the third.
 
Fricker got into double figures late in the fourth period with back-to-back lay-ups on assists by Alexatos, the second of which came on an Alexatos steal and look ahead. The rookie finished 3-for-4 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the line, also adding three rebounds and three assists.
 
Setaro led all scorers with 14 points, with Leazier adding 11 on 3-of-3 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the line un an unblemished shooting effort. Fricker was the third Lion in double figures.
 
Branchizio scored all nine of her points in the first half and Cafaro tallied eight, a new season best, to go with six rebounds, a mark that tied for the team lead with Morgan Heller and Jezlyn Cross.
 
The Lions handed out 16 assists on 22 made field goals.
 
TCNJ forced 22 turnovers on the afternoon and cashed in on the other end with 24 points.
 
The Lions continue NJAC play at Ramapo on Saturday.