GALLOWAY, N.J. - The TCNJ women's basketball team was on the road to take on Stockton in conference play Wednesday night, outscoring the Ospreys by 10 in the second half en route to a hard-fought, 70-58 win.
 
Four players scored in double figures for the Lions (14-5, 10-2 NJAC), paced by 17 from Katie Fricker. The junior was joined by Nina Branchizio (14), Arianna McCleod (13) and Grace Kowalski (11), with Jaclyn Feit (9) narrowly missing out on completing the quintet.
 
An 8-0 run halfway through the first quarter saw Stockton (9-10, 5-7 NJAC) take an early 12-7 lead in Wednesday's rematch, but it was Branchizio and McCleod leaving things at 12 with 3:28 to go. Neither side was able to create much separation for the remainder of the half – the lead was no larger than three for the entire second quarter – before a Kowalski lay-in on the final possession sent TCNJ into the break up 29-27.
 
The Lions came out hungry in the second half, bookending the quarter with runs of 9-2 and 8-3 to take a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter. Four different TCNJ player scored in the quarter-opening burst that made it 38-31 halfway through the quarter.
 
The Ospreys cut the lead to two on two occasions before a Kowalski triple – her second of the quarter – ignited a frame-closing 8-3 run that made it 48-41 with 10 minutes to go.
 
Wednesday's final quarter told much of the same story as the third, with an early run putting the Lions up 10 at 53-43 before a Stockton response trimmed the advantage down to six halfway through the stanza. Fouls plagued the Ospreys the rest of the way, however, with TCNJ getting nearly all of its points from the charity stripe in the final five minutes en route to the 70-58 win.
 
FOR THE FOES

• Katie Rausch poured in a team-best 16 points on 5-9 shooting including 4-7 from deep.
• Grace Speer also eclipsed double figures with 13 points to pair with four boards and three blocks.
• Imene Fathi finished with a game-high seven assists.

STANDOUT LIONS

• Fricker paired her game-high 17 points with seven rebounds and two steals.
• McCleod nearly mirrored the junior's statline with seven rebounds and two steals of her own.
• Branchizio set a season-high in assists with five, tied for the team lead with Kowalski.
• While Jaclyn Feit was the lone Lions starter to not reach double figures in scoring – she scored nine – the graduate student added six rebounds and a season-best four blocks.
• Myah Hourigan-Hutton was a spark off the bench, scoring three points and adding seven rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 38.9% from the field and 45% from deep while the Ospreys shot 42.6% overall and just 27.8% from 3-point territory.
• The Lions free throw makes (19) and attempts (26) were both the second highest tallies this season.
• For just the second time this calendar year TCNJ held an advantage on the glass, outrebounding Stockton 35-32.
• The Lions were narrowly outscored in the paint, 26-24.

NOTES

• Branchizio moved into 17th in program history in points (1,046) and 16th in assists (217). She is one of just four players to rank in the top 17 of both statistics.

UP NEXT

• TCNJ returns to Packer Hall Saturday, Feb. 1 to host Ramapo. Opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m.