The TCNJ women's basketball team entered the NJAC Tournament as the eighth seed, but the Lions earned a spot in Saturday night's NJAC Championship game at New Jersey City after winning its first three tournament games. For much of Saturday's title game, it appeared as if the Lions would keep the dance alive.
TCNJ led for much of the first three quarters, but a cold spell in the fourth quarter opened the door for NJCU to take the lead and hold on for a 58-52 win.
The Lions shots the lights out in the first quarter. All seven of TCNJ's first-quarter field goals were three pointers, and the Lions were 7-for-10 from three-point range in the quarter. Nina Branchizio made all three of her attempts, and Sydney Blum went 2-for-4. Izzy Leazier and Julia Setaro each made a three. TCNJ led by as many as seven, and it held a 22-18 lead after the first after shooting 58.3 percent from the field.
Both teams cooled on the offensive end in the second, but the Lions carried a 32-29 lead into the intermission thanks to late threes from Emily Toy and Setaro.
The Lions did a great job on the defensive end against NJCU leading scorer Damaris Rodriguez. She entered Saturday's title game averaging 21.6 points per game while shooting better than 35 percent from three-point range. TCNJ held her to just 11 points on 3-for-23 shooting from the floor and 0-for-6 from three-point range.
The TCNJ defense held down the NJCU perimeter attack throughout the night as NJCU went just 1-for-13 from three-point range. The Gothic Knights dominated in the paint, though, outscoring the Lions, 30-4, while holding a 45-30 rebounding advantage.
Neither team shot the ball well in the third quarter, but TCNJ still held a 42-41 lead heading into the final period. At that point, TCNJ held the lead for 25:30 of the 30 minutes of game time to that point.
NJCU took control in the fourth as the Lions continued to struggle at the offensive end. The Lions made just three field goals in the fourth, and the first of those didn't come until Setaro made a three pointer with 3:44 left. She was fouled on the play, and the free throw cut the TCNJ deficit to 49-47.
After an NJCU turnover, the Lions had a chance to tie or take the lead, but its three-point attempt didn't fall. NJCU scored the next four points to take a 53-47 lead with 2:18 to play, and the Lions never again had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.
Setaro led all scorers with 20 points, and Branchizio finished with 12 points and four assists. Blum scored nine points, and Kaitlyn Deiter led the team with six rebounds.
TCNJ was aiming for its first NJAC title since 2009.
https://tcnjathletics.com/news/2022/2/26/womens-basketball-womens-basketball-run-ends-in-njac-title-game.aspx
2022-02-27 02:19:31Z
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