MAHWAH, N.J. - The TCNJ women's basketball team was on the road for an NJAC matchup against Ramapo Saturday afternoon, hitting a season-high 17 3-pointers to cruise to an 80-32 win over the Roadrunners and extend the Lions' win streak to five.
 
Five players got into double figures for TCNJ (7-2, 5-0 NJAC) paced by a game-high 14 from Kate Fricker. The junior was joined by Nina Branchizio (12), Cassidy Brown (12), Arianna McCleod (11) and Grace Kowalski (10) in the Lions' highest scoring game in nearly a month. Brooke McFadden led the team in rebounds for the second straight game with nine while Branchizio's four assists served as a game-high total.
 
It was Kowalski hitting TCNJ's first triple of the night on the opening possession to give the Lions a lead they would never relinquish. The bucket was answered by a jumper on the other end by Ramapo's (1-10, 0-5 NJAC) Angelene Mattingly before a pair of Fricker free throws started what would turn into an 11-0 run that featured 3-pointers from Kowalski, Branchizio and McCleod to jump in front 14-2 just over halfway into the quarter.
 
The Roadrunners momentarily stopped the bleeding with a bucket by Damiya Graham, but another 5-0 run to close the frame put the Lions firmly in the driver's seat up 19-4 after one.
 
As impressive as the opening quarter was, it was TCNJ's offense taking things to another level in a second frame in which they poured in 32 points to take a 51-14 lead into halftime. Ramapo scored the first points a minute into the quarter before back-to-back threes from Fricker and Brown – the freshman was a perfect 3-3 from deep in the game – began a 24-4 run over the next seven minutes that was capped off by Tireya Wyatt's first triple of the season to balloon the advantage to 46-12.
 
Amanda Baylock joined the action on the ensuing possession with her second 3-pointer of the quarter before an offensive rebound and putback by McFadden built the lead to 37 at 51-14 at the half.
 
Threes continued to pour in, with TCNJ hitting five more on 10 attempts in the third as part of a 19-9 third quarter before being held to just 10 points – still outscoring the Roadrunners who scored nine – en route to the 80-32 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Lions' 17 threes were not only a season-high, but are tied for the most in a single game in at least the last 13 years. Most impressively, TCNJ finished with a season-best percentage of .472, converting on 17 of its 36 attempts.
• The 32 points allowed by the Lions were also the fewest in a single game since they gave up just 31 to Rutgers-Newark in the 2021-22 season. The Roadrunners were held to a shooting percentage of .245, their third-lowest mark of the year.
• TCNJ's rookies showed out in the win. Brown matched her career-high of 12 points set earlier in the year while Baylock (8) and Wyatt (5) both set new high water marks.
• After being held under 10 points and shooting a combined 1-8 from deep in her last three games, McCleod flipped the script in Saturday's game hitting three 3-pointers and tallying 11 points.
• Kowalski remained lights out from 3-point land in the win, going 2-2 and has now hit seven straight threes dating back to TCNJ's December 7 matchup against Kean.
• The Lions dominated in three major categories Saturday, outscoring Ramapo in fastbreak points (12-0), points off turnovers (26-0) and bench points (30-9).

UP NEXT

• TCNJ travels to California to take on Chapman Wednesday, Dec. 14 in non-conference action. Opening tip is scheduled for 3 p.m.