EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team was dreadful at the free-throw line but on target from beyond the 3-point line, and the latter was just enough to overcome the former as the Lions used a litany of clutch shots to outlast William Paterson, 61-56, in a thrilling NJAC first-round contest on Saturday.

With the victory, the Lions (17-9) advanced to the NJAC semifinals, where they'll take on top-seeded New Jersey City in a rematch of last year's conference final. Tip is set for 7 p.m. in Jersey City.

TCNJ made eight 3-pointers in the second half – including three huge ones off the hand of Nina Branchizio – to cancel out a day-long struggle that saw the home side misfire on 12 of its first 18 free-throw attempts. They needed every one of them to hold off a Pioneers squad that erased a six-point halftime deficit and led for much of the second half, including at 49-48 with under four minutes to play.

Branchizio's fourth and final triple of the day put TCNJ on top for good at 57-54 with 1:41 left, and the Lions earned several key defensive stops before hitting their last four from the line to seal it.

The Lions came out of the gates strong, scoring the first five points as Sydney Blum swished a 3-pointer on the team's first possession and Leazier scored on a driving lay-in on the next.

William Paterson found its footing as the opening quarter wore on, ending the frame knotted at 12 and taking its first lead at 14-13 on a pair of free throws by Renee Wells early in the second quarter.

That was as good as it got for the Pioneers in the first half, as TCNJ's lockdown defense harangued the black-clad visitors into a 1-for-13 effort from the field in the second quarter; William Paterson's only field goal of the period came with just 1:18 on the timer.

On the other end it was the Leazier show, the junior consistently taking advantage of her matchup to drive for buckets or draw fouls. Still, despite the Pioneers' offensive struggles the Lions were unable to gain much separation, and it was just a three-point game when Katie Fricker blew by her defender for a three-point play to double the margin at 25-19.

William Paterson looked set to get to the half down just four, but Emily Toy grabbed an errant jumper and quickly put it back up and in for a massive basket to beat the buzzer and put the hosts on top, 27-21, heading into the locker room.

TCNJ shot 50.0 percent in the first half (10-for-20) and held William Paterson to just 26.9 percent (7-for-26), but the Lions were just 4-for-11 at the free-throw line.
William Paterson made its move right out of the locker room, rattling off the first nine points of the second half to storm in front, 30-27, at the 6:54 mark as TCNJ was forced to call time.

Setaro stopped the surge with a long 3-pointer to tie it and began to put her stamp on the game, launching a contested 3 as the shot-clock buzzer sounded to give TCNJ a 33-32 lead and using a lightning-quick crossover to get free for a pair of free throws, sinking the second to cut William Paterson's lead to 35-34 at the 3:48 mark of the third.

The Pioneers' first 3 of the afternoon made it a four-point game, but Fricker answered immediately with a huge right-wing trey of her own to get back to a one-point spread. Once again down by four, Kaitlyn Deiter scored on a twisting lefty lay-in before the third-quarter buzzer to make it a 41-39 Pioneers lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

Down four for a third time, TCNJ again refused to let the visitors extend, and even regained the upper hand as Branchizio and Blum knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to hand the hosts a 45-43 edge with 7:05 to play. After a tying bucket by Paterson, Leazier drove baseline and kicked out to Branchizio for another clutch triple and a 48-45 lead.

Leazier made a pair of huge plays on consecutive possessions, giving the Lions a 51-49 lead with a three-point play and then getting a left-wing triple to bounce off the front rim and the backboard before rolling around the rim and in to extend the lead to five (54-49) with 3:09 to go.

Brianna Smith tied it at 54 with a 3-pointer, but Leazier corralled an offensive rebound and quickly passed out to Branchizio, who swished a left-wing trey to give TCNJ the lead again at 57-54 with 1:41 remaining.

With the game on the line, TCNJ managed three consecutive stops, the last coming as Smith's lay-up bounced around and out. Leazier secured the rebound and took timeout with 22.0 ticks showing. Just 6-for-18 to date at the line as a team, TCNJ made its last four as Setaro and Leazier each sank a pair to ice it.

Cabezas finished with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds, and Wells chipped in 16 for the visitors, who were just 2-for-12 from long range.

Leazier had team highs in points (18) and rebounds (8) for the Lions, with Setaro adding 14 points and Branchizio a dozen on those four triples; she also dished out four assists. Fricker's six points came at crucial moments, and Blum was one of four players with multiple 3-pointers.

Morgan Heller did not attempt a shot but came down with seven big rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.

TCNJ finished 11-for-26 beyond the arc – and 8-for-16 after halftime – to help cancel out a 10-for-22 performance at the stripe.