UNION, NJ - The TCNJ women's basketball team was on the road to take on Kean Saturday afternoon, getting 20-point outings from
Grace Kowalski and
Nina Branchizio to extend its win streak to three with a 74-56 victory over the Cougars.
Kowalski led all scorers with 25 points followed closely by 22 from Branchizio, with the duo accounting for more than half of the Lions' (5-2, 3-0 NJAC) points in the win. Kowalski also paced TCNJ in thefts with three while
Myah Hourigan-Hutton finished with team-high tallies in both rebounds (9) and assists (5).
Saturday's opening quarter was the most tightly contested of the afternoon in which there were three ties and seven lead changes. Branchizio kept the Lions close early, accounting for seven of TCNJ's first 11 points before the visitors attempted to pull away late. With the score 15-14 in favor of the Lions, it was Cassidy Brown hitting her lone triple of the night to kickstart a quick 5-0 run to balloon the lead to 20-14, but there with a 5-0 response of her own was Kean's (3-4, 1-2 NJAC) Cara McCoy to making it 20-19 after one.
The score remained close in the second after a made layup by the Cougars' Riley Ahrens cut the lead to just three at 29-26 six minutes into the quarter. From there, however, it was an Arianna McCleod 3-pointer igniting a 7-2 run to end the frame and put the Lions up 36-28 at the half.
The third quarter belonged to Kowalski and Branchizio, as the duo combined to match the Cougars' point total (15) to take a double digit lead into the fourth. Kowalski kicked off the frame with a layup before trading triples with Branchizio to balloon to lead to 14 at 44-30. Kean trimmed the lead to 10 on two occasions, but it was Branchizio and Amanda Baylock hitting TCNJ's third and fourth threes of the quarter to win the race to 50 (52-38) with three minutes to go.
While the Lions got contributions from their guards in the third, it was the Cougars' Maddison Vaughn taking over late to keep things close. The senior scored Kean's final nine points of the quarter, including a lay-in on the final possession of the frame to make it a 54-43 game heading into the fourth.
Saturday's final quarter told more of the same story, with Kowalski (12) nearly outscoring Kean (13) herself to help lead TCNJ to the comfortable win. The junior did all of her damage in the first seven minutes of the stanza, with her final bucket giving the Lions a 17-point lead at 70-53 with 3:10 to go. From there it was Brown scoring the next four as part of her nine-point outing before Kean scored the game's final three points to result in the 74-56 final.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Kowalski's 25 points are one shy of her career-best set a season ago and marks her first 20-point game of the 2024-25 campaign.
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Branchizio's 22 points were a season-high and extended the senior's double-digit scoring streak to seven. The Monroe, N.J. native is averaging a team-best 15.9 points per game while shooting 45% from the field.
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Paced by a game-high four from Branchizio, the Lions hit double digit 3-pointers (10) for the third time this season and first since November 16.
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TCNJ's 19 offensive boards are a season-high and helped the Lions outrebound the Cougars 38-35.
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Kean's Maddison Vaughn was everywhere in the loss, racking up 17 points, 16 rebounds, seven blocks and three steals in the best performance of her career.
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