GLASSBORO, N.J. – Julia Setaro scored her 1,000^th career point at TCNJ, but the women's basketball team went cold in the second half as host Rowan separated down the stretch for a 71-51 NJAC victory on Wednesday night.
 
Setaro led the way with 18 points for the Lions (3-3, 1-1), with the last two – on a pair of free throws in the final minute – putting her at exactly 1,000 for her career in blue and gold; she scored 22 points as a freshman at Catholic.
 
Despite the final tally, TCNJ led with under four minutes to go in the third before the Profs (4-3, 1-1) scored the last 10 points of the period and outscored the visitors by a 23-10 margin in the fourth to provide a deceptively lopsided margin.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After Rowan scored the game's first four points, TCNJ took control with a 12-0 run over the next five-plus minutes. Grace Kowalski dropped in a pair of buckets during that stretch, which also included 3-pointers from Setaro and Nina Branchizio
• Setaro netted the first two baskets of the second quarter to stretch the Lions' lead back to eight (16-8), but the Profs answered with a 13-4 burst to take a 21-20 advantage. That set off a see-saw end to the first half that featured four lead changes and ended in a 26-all tie after Izzy Leazier knocked down a jumper with 16 seconds remaining
• The tug-of-war continued well into the third quarter, and neither side managed to separate until the Profs' game-changing run over the final 3:18. A 3-pointer by Branchizio had put TCNJ ahead, 39-38, but Jes Mastriano's free throws kicked off the stretch of 10 unanswered markers that left the hosts in front, 48-41, heading into the fourth
• The Lions twice got within six in the fourth, the last time on a field goal by Leazier to make it 52-46 with 7:03 to go. Rowan, however, scored the next nine points to put the game away and ended regulation on a 19-5 run

FOR THE FOES

• Eliana Santana (17), Sabrina Araujo (14), and Kate Herlihy (12) scored in double figures for the Profs, who shot 52.6 percent from 3-point range (10-for-19)
• Rowan turned it over just 10 times and converted 18 TCNJ miscues into 23 points on the other end

STANDOUT LIONS

• Setaro finished 5-of-15 from the field and made all six of her free throws, including the last two to become the 17^th player in program history to reach 1,000 points at TCNJ
• Branchizio hit three 3-pointers to finish with nine points
• Katie Fricker, fresh off her first career double-double, flirted with another before finishing with seven points and nine rebounds
• Isabella Cafaro had six points and six rebounds

UP NEXT

• The Lions head back home to take on New Jersey City on Saturday