EWING, N.J. — Grace Kowalski took care of the outside, Brooke McFadden took care of the inside, and the TCNJ women's basketball team convincingly took care of business against Rutgers-Camden in its 2024 home finale on Wednesday night, pulling away in the second quarter for a 71-45 NJAC victory.
 
Kowalski finished 9-of-11 from the field and made all five of her 3-point attempts in a 23-point night, while McFadden narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and a huge season best of 16 rebounds for TCNJ (6-2, 4-0), which won its fourth straight and stayed perfect in league play.
 
Katie Fricker added 17 points and Myah Hourigan-Hutton chipped in eight points and six rebounds for the Lions.
 
The first and third quarters were tight, but the home side outscored the Scarlet Raptors, 40-17, in the second and fourth. Much of that came during a 14-0 run that lasted nearly the final 7-plus minutes of the first half, a spurt capped by a Hourigan-Hutton bucket to double up Camden, 34-17, in the final minute of the second stanza.
 
Leading 34-20 at intermission, the teams split the third quarter evenly at 15-apiece. The final frame was all Lions, starting with a 3 from Kowalski on the opening possession. Kowalski later sandwiched a pair of long balls around a trey from Nina Branchizio to put TCNJ ahead 61-40 with 6:28 to go.
 
McFadden, Maddie Bernhardt, and Amanda Baylock all scored a pair of points during a 6-0 run in the final minute to close it out.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 40.9 percent from the field (27-of-66) and made eight 3-pointers, just shy of its season average of a little over 10 coming into the night
• The Lions went 8-for-16 overall and 4-of-6 from behind the arc in the fourth quarter
• TCNJ had more assists (14) than turnovers (12), while the Scarlet Raptors turned it over 18 times to just three assists
• TCNJ held a 42-33 edge on the glass and limited Camden to 1-of-11 on 3-point tries
• Fricker was 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 at the line

NOTES

• Kowalski has scored 48 points on 19-of-28 shooting over her last two games
• Kowalski's five 3-pointers marked a new career high
• McFadden notched her second game of the year with at least 10 boards
• McFadden's 16 rebounds were the most by a Lion since Natalie Kolb pulled down 17 caroms against William Paterson last season
• The Lions have won 15 in a row against Rutgers-Camden
• TCNJ is off to its best start in league play since going 8-0 in the NJAC during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Ramapo on Saturday for their last conference contest of 2024