EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team jumped all over Stevens from the jump in Tuesday's home opener, opening up a double-digit lead less than six minutes in and controlling the pace of play en route to an 82-68 victory.
Julia Setaro scored 15 of her season-high 24 in the first half for the Lions (2-1), who led by as many as 16 points in the first period and held off a couple second-half charges from the Ducks to hand the visitors – who went 22-6 and made the NCAA Tournament last season – their first loss of the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Tied at 4 in the early going, the Lions took control with an 11-1 spurt featuring 3-pointers from Setaro and Isabella Cafaro, going ahead by 11 on a pull-up from Nina Branchizio (16-5) and a layup by Katie Fricker (18-7) on a pinpoint bounce transition bounce pass from Grace Kowalski
- The Lions went ahead, 25-9, on Izzy Leazier's 3-pointer before Stevens' Leyla Castro banked in a deep triple to beat the first-quarter buzzer
- TCNJ was comfortably ahead by 12-17 points for the vast majority of the second stanza, pushing ahead by as many as 17 (39-22) after Setaro drained a left-corner trey and scooped in a fast-break layup on another assist from Kowalski to make it 39-22 at the 5:35 mark
- The Ducks chipped away at the margin for the remainder of the first half, using a 13-5 run to get within single digits, 44-35, on a driving basket by Elissa Nsenyire for the final points of the second quarter
- Kolb, who had a pair of and-ones in the first half, started the second half with back-to-back offensive rebounds and drew a foul, knocking down both ensuing free throws to put the Lions back in front by double digits at 46-35
- Stevens got as close as six on two occasions after halftime. The first was at 49-43, but Setaro kick-started a Lions rally by finding Leazier in the corner for a 3 and converting a layup off her own steal to ignite a 10-1 run, which Cafaro capped with two free throws t make it 59-44
- TCNJ led by 13 (67-54) after three but went scoreless for the first nearly five minutes of the fourth, allowing Stevens to pull within six again (67-61). Setaro again had an answer, knocking down a short jumper before Branchizio got loose off a back cut and easily finished a pass from Fricker to restore a 10-point spread with 4:46 to go. The Ducks got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
FOR THE FOES
- Leyla Castro paced the visitors with 19 points and five assists
- Nsenkyire added 16 points and Lucy Alberici had 10 points and seven rebounds
- The Lions held Stevens to just 3-of-18 from beyond the arc
STANDOUT LIONS
- Setaro was terrific, going 10-of-17 overall and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc; she also grabbed five rebounds and had four assists to just one turnover
- Branchizio netted a season-high 18 points, making three 3-pointers and all but one of her six foul shots
- Cafaro fell one point shy of her career high with 13 points in just 14 minutes, including a pair of 3's
- Fricker paired 10 points with a career-high eight rebounds
- Kolb was a force on the glass with seven points and a TCNJ-best 11 rebounds, six of them on the offensive end
- Leazier stuffed the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, and six assists
INSIDE THE BOX
- The Lions never trailed in the game, which was tied just twice (at 2-2 and 4-4)
- TCNJ shot 41.4 percent overall (29-for-70) and made 12 3-pointers on 36 attempts, outscoring the Ducks by 27 from long range
- The Lions held a slim 45-44 edge on the glass, and the teams were even in second-chance points (12)
NOTES
- Setaro became the fourth player in TCNJ history to reach 150 career 3-pointers
UP NEXT
- The Lions head to Scranton on Saturday for a challenging non-conference contest against the 6th-ranked Royals
