EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ women's basketball team used a long-range barrage to separate from Rowan for an important NJAC win on Wednesday night, downing the visitors by a 73-56 count.
Nina Branchizio and
Julia Setaro scored 19 points apiece for the Lions, who knocked down 14 3-pointers to turn a nip-and-tuck tilt into a runaway rout and salvage a split of the season series with Rowan.
FOR THE RECORD
- TCNJ moved to 12-7 overall and 9-3 in the NJAC, while Rowan dropped to 9-10 (6-6 NJAC)
- The Lions remained one game back of Kean and Stockton for first place in the league standings
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Lions came out firing from long range, knocking down their first four 3-point attempts – from Izzy Leazier, Setaro, Branchizio, and Grace Kowalski – to take a 12-4 lead
- After Kowalski nailed another triple, TCNJ had scored its first 15 points from behind the arc, which only changed when Natalie Kolb made a free throw and a driving lay-up to put the hosts up, 18-11, after one
- TCNJ began to break away early in the second. Leading 20-16, Branchizio splashed a step-back 3 and then hit a streaking Kaitlyn Deiter with a pin-point bounce pass for a transition bucket. Branchizio made another 3 – her third of the first half – to make it 30-19 at the 5:51 mark, and the Lions eventually went to the break with a 34-27 edge
- The Lions' resolve was tested out of the locker room as Rowan soared into a 35-34 lead with an immediate 8-0 run, and the home side answered the bell. Setaro gave TCNJ the lead back – and for good – with a steal and breakaway lay-up, and Branchizio drained another 3-pointer before Setaro's transition pull-up made it 41-35
- Rowan answered with a 3 of its own and was within 44-40 before Kowalski banked in a sweeping lay-in and Setaro scored five quick points to make it a double-digit margin again at 51-40 with 3:25 to go
- Setaro's fast-break lay-up made it 56-44 in the final minute of the third, and Rowan could get no closer than 11 the rest of the way
FOR THE FOES
- Kate Herlihy led the Profs with 17 points
- Eliana Santana finished with nine points and eight rebounds
STANDOUT LIONS
- Branchizio connected on four of her first five attempts from beyond the arc and finished 5-for-12 from distance, adding three steals and three assists to her 19 points
- Setaro came alive in the second half, scoring 14 of her 19 after intermission; she was 7-of-12 from the field and 3-for-6 from long range
- Kowalski had eight points and five assists and Deiter paired six points with eight boards, four assists, and three blocks
- Leazier finished with six points, while Fricker and Arianna McCleod scored five apiece
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ dominated the rebounding battle to a 40-28 tune
- The Lions shot 46.7 percent overall (28-of-60) and the same from 3-point range (14-for-30)
- TCNJ handed out 18 assists to its 11 turnovers
- The Lions outscored Rowan, 14-3, in fast-break points
- Rowan had just four turnovers at halftime, but TCNJ forced the Profs into eight of them in the second half
NOTES
- Setaro moved past Liz Martin '04 and into 10th on the all-time scoring list with 1,182 points
- Branchizio vaulted into third on the all-time 3-point list with 168 and counting
UP NEXT
- The Lions head to Montclair State on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip
