MONTCLAIR, N.J. -  The TCNJ women's basketball team dominated the turn in its highly-touted matchup against Montclair State Wednesday night, outscoring the Red Hawks 50-23 in the second and third quarters en route to a 84-51 win on the road.
 
Wednesday's victory came thanks in large part to the Lions' forward trio of Katie Fricker, Brooke McFadden and Riley Ahrens, who singlehandedly outscored Montclair State, 54-51. Fricker led all scorers with a career-high 24 points while McFadden posted a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double – the sophomore's second in as many games – with Ahrens adding a season-high 14 off the bench. The junior also wreaked havoc on the defensive end with four combined steals and blocks in what was likely her best performance since making her TCNJ debut just two weeks ago.
 
After the Red Hawks (10-5, 6-2 NJAC) jumped out to a 9-5 lead halfway through the opening quarter, it was the Lions (7-8, 6-2 NJAC) holding the hosts scoreless over the next seven minutes as part of an extended 16-0 run that saw their four-point deficit turn into a 12-point lead after the quarter change.
 
Montclair State finally ended the scoring drought with an Alyssa Craigwell lay-in to make it a 21-11 game at the 7:30 mark of the second, but the top shooting team in the conference caught fire from there in a frame in which they shot 62.5 percent from the field and drained five 3-pointers. Up ten at that point, TCNJ's next four buckets were triples coming from Maddie Bernhardt, Grace Kowalski, McFadden and Izzy Augustine to double their lead to 20 just four minutes later, with the Red Hawks narrowly outscoring the Lions down the stretch to give the visitors a 40-24 lead at halftime.
 
It was more of the same in a third quarter that saw TCNJ hit four more threes and outscore Montclair State 24-8 to all but put the game out of reach. Fricker did most of her damage in the frame, pouring in 11 of her 24 points on 2-of-4 shooting and a perfect 6-6 stretch at the line to give the Lions a 64-32 edge with 10 minutes to go.
 
The Red Hawks opened Wednesday's final quarter on a 9-0 run to make one final comeback attempt, getting as close as 22 before TCNJ went 11-of-14 from the charity stripe down the stretch en route to the 84-51 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Lions shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the floor, 36.7 percent (11-30) from deep and a season-best 82.6 percent (19-of-23) at the free throw line.
• Montclair State was held to a season-low 33.9 percent (20-of-59) from the field, 18.5 percent (5-of-27) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the charity stripe.
• TCNJ turned 20 Red Hawks turnovers into 23 points on the other end.
• The Lions held commanding leads in both bench points (28-10) and fastbreak points (15-2).

STANDOUT LIONS

• Fricker sank multiple 3-pointers for the first time in over a month and was a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line en route to her career-best 24 points.
• McFadden's double-double came in just 21 minutes of action.
• Ahrens was also perfect from the stripe, going 6-for-6 while also hitting two triples.

FOR THE FOES

• Craigwell led Montclair State with 18 points and seven rebounds. Bella Bruce added 11 points as the lone other scorer to reach double figures for the Red Hawks.

NOTES

• This was TCNJ's largest margin of victory over Montclair State in series history.
• The Lions have now won three straight on the road against the Red Hawks.

UP NEXT

• TCNJ is back home Saturday, Jan. 17 to host New Jersey City. The Lions will honor their three graduating seniors prior to tip-off, which is scheduled for 1 p.m.