NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -  The TCNJ women's basketball team returned from its holiday break for a non-conference matchup against St. John Fisher Tuesday afternoon, outscoring the Cardinals 31-15 in the second half en route to a 61-53 win on Day 1 of the Smith Holiday Classic.
 
Myah Hourigan-Hutton was the difference in the hard-fought victory, pouring in a career-best 14 points to pair with seven rebounds across a team-high 36 minutes of action. Defensively it was Brooke McFadden finishing with a game-high 14 rebounds while Katie Fricker and Grace Kowalski shared the team lead with two steals apiece in the Lions' first non-conference win of the season.
 
St. John Fisher (2-6) struck first in Tuesday's game, sandwiching a pair of 5-0 runs around a Maddie Bernhardt 3-pointer to take a 10-3 lead early. Hourigan-Hutton scored the first of her career-high 14 points from the charity stripe as part of a 12-5 response that leveled the score at 15, with a second Bernhardt triple giving the Lions (4-7) their first lead of the night at 18-17 before a St. John Fisher buzzer beater made it a 20-18 game after one.
 
 TCNJ's offense stalled in a second quarter in which the Lions shot just 25 percent, including a three-minute stretch in which they were held without a bucket before a 4-0 burst from Hourigan-Hutton brought TCNJ back within two at 27-25. The deficit – which had grown back to 10 – was cut in half following a personal 5-0 run from Olivia Voshell in the waning minutes, but it was the Cardinals' Danielle Seamon beating the buzzer to send the Lions into halftime down 38-30.
 
The script flipped in Tuesday's third quarter, with a Hourigan-Hutton lay kickstarting an 8-0 run – the final six points of which came from Amanda Baylock – to knot things at 38 before the sides traded buckets to make it a 43-43 game with 10 minutes to go.
 
Hourigan-Hutton threw the first punch with an and-one conversion in the opening minute of the decisive fourth quarter, with a lay-in from Katie Fricker giving the Lions their largest lead to that point at 48-43. St. John Fisher got to within one at 54-53, but it was Kowalski and Fricker scoring the final seven points of the game to secure the 61-53 win in their first action in over two weeks.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TCNJ shot 33.3 percent (21-of-63) from the field, 22.6 percent (7-of-31) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (12-of-18) at the free throw line.
• The Cardinals were held to 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the floor, 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from 3-point land and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the charity stripe.
• The Lions turned 19 St. John Fisher turnovers into 15 points on the other end.
• TCNJ also held advantages in points in the paint (28-24) and fastbreak points (12-4).

STANDOUT LIONS

• Hourigan-Huttons's 14 points are a career high, with the senior's seven boards also tying her season-best mark.
• Izzy Augustine (9), Fricker (8) and Baylock (8) narrowly missed out on joining the senior in double figures.
• McFadden hauled in 14 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.

FOR THE FOES

• Natalie Mai led the Cardinals in scoring with 12 points.
• Presleigh Brunner added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.

NOTES

• This was the first meeting all-time between the programs.
• McFadden now sits at exactly 200 points and 200 rebounds for her career.

UP NEXT

• TCNJ is back for Day 2 of the Smith Holiday Classic tomorrow when the Lions face off against the fourth-ranked Bears in their non-conference finale. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m.