EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team ended on the short end of a back-and-forth NJAC thriller with Ramapo on Saturday, dropping a 67-58 decision in a battle of league front-runners.
 
FOR THE RECORD

• TCNJ fell to 9-7 overall and 6-3 in the NJAC, while Ramapo improved to 10-5 and 7-2 in league play

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first quarter was interspersed with five lead changes after TCNJ opened with four quick points, and the Lions had their last advantage of the first half at 13-10 on a driving lay-up by Grace Kowalski
• Ramapo, however, held the hosts scoreless for more than six minutes, using 11 consecutive points and an overall 18-4 spurt to open up a double-digit lead at 28-17 with just 3:39 before the half
• On the ropes, TCNJ ended the second quarter on a spirited surge, ripping off an 11-2 run to close within 30-28 at intermission. Julia Setaro and Nina Branchizio swished deep pull-up jumpers and Setaro sunk a left-handed scoop shot before Katie Fricker collected a loose rebound and beat the buzzer with a short jumper to trim the Roadrunners' margin to a mere two points.
• TCNJ held Ramapo scoreless for the final 2:55 of the second quarter
• The trading of spurts continued in the second half, and each of the third and fourth quarters. Ramapo scored the first six points after halftime to go up 36-28 and still led by eight (41-33) before TCNJ countered with six in a row and eight of 10 to make it 43-41 on a short jumper by Natalie Kolb
• The Roadrunners seized momentum at the turn of the period as Olivia Johnstone drained a long 3-pointer to end the third and Jackie Ventricelli made one to start the fourth, turning a two-point lead to eight (49-41)
• Ramapo went ahead by as many as 12 (58-46) with 5:46 to go, and the Lions got as close as five (63-58) on Nina Branchizio's long 3 with 29.9 ticks remaining. Ventricelli, however, went 6-for-6 at the line in the final minute to ice it

FOR THE FOES

• Johnstone led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting
• Jada Thompson posted a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double
• Ventricelli had 18 points, 13 of them coming in the fourth quarter

STANDOUT LIONS

• After scoring seven first-quarter points in Wednesday's win at Rutgers-Newark, Kaitlyn Deiter came out hot again on Saturday, scoring six points of TCNJ's first eight points and setting a new season high with eight in the first half alone. She finished with eight points and eight boards
• Setaro led the Lions with 14 points and grabbed five rebounds
• McCleod was a spark plug off the bench, following Wednesday's 17-point career high with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting as well as a number of hustle plays
• Kowalski had eight points off the bench

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ averages over nine 3-pointers per game but was just 3-for-17 from distance
• Ramapo shot 51.0 percent (25-for-49) and had 17 assists
• The Lions shot 38.7 percent overall (24-for-62)

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday night