EWING, N.J. - The TCNJ women's basketball team hosted Swarthmore in its first action of the new year Thursday night, claiming a 48-38 victory over the Garnet to open up 2025 with a win. The contest was also the Lions' final non-conference game of the regular season, pushing them back over .500 (4-3) on the year in such games.
 
Nina Branchizio was the lone TCNJ player to reach double figures in Thursday's matchup, finishing with a team-high 12 points. The senior was followed closely by Myah Hourigan-Hutton (9) and Katie Fricker (9), with Fricker also racking up a game-high nine rebounds while Hourigan-Hutton shared the team-lead in assists with Grace Kowalski at three apiece.
 
Swarthmore (3-7, 0-1 Centennial) opened the scoring with a contested jumper from Alyssa Hayashi, but a Branchizio triple on the other end kickstarted an 11-0 run to give the Lions (9-3, 5-0 NJAC) a lead they would hold the rest of the way. Three straight Garnet buckets trimmed the deficit to three with 2:29 to go, but a layup from Hourigan-Hutton made it a 13-8 game after one.
 
Thursday's second frame was the highest scoring quarter of the evening, with TCNJ getting a trio of 3-pointers from Branchizio – the senior sank all four of her triples in the first half – and Amanda Baylock to go up 25-16 halfway through the stanza. The Lions' lead grew to as much as 13 following a perfect trip to the line from Fricker before Swarthmore's Hayashi closed out the half on a personal 4-0 run to give TCNJ just a nine-point advantage (31-22) at the break.
 
Point were few and far between in a third quarter that saw the Garnet outscore the Lions 11-8. Arianna McCleod broke the scoreless drought to start the frame with a layup at the 7:09 mark, but TCNJ was held without a point over the next 4:38 – a stretch that allowed Swarthmore to trim the lead to three – before a Kowalski lay built it back to a five-point advantage at 35-30. Hourigan-Hutton added two from the charity stripe just under two minutes later, with Kowalski striking again at the horn to make it a 39-33 game with 10 minutes to go.
 
Offensive struggles continued in the fourth, but the lead was large enough to withstand any comeback attempt from the Garnet en route to the 48-38 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Both teams struggled mightily on the offensive end, with TCNJ shooting a season-low .286 while Swarthmore was held to just .292.
• Brooke McFadden's career-best three steals helped the Lions outscore the Garnet 13-8 in points off turnovers – Swarthmore committed 19 compared to 10 for TCNJ.
• Hourigan-Hutton's nine points were the junior's most since she scored 11 in the Lions' season-opener against John Jay.
• Despite being narrowly outrebounded 43-37 for the game, TCNJ corralled 16 offensive rebounds – its second highest mark of the season.

UP NEXT

• TCNJ returns to Packer Hall Wednesday, Jan. 8 to take on Rowan in the first of 13 straight NJAC contests to close the year. Opening tip is scheduled for 5 p.m.