EWING, N.J. (Jan. 26, 2022) – The College of New Jersey women's basketball team went on a 19-point run to close the first quarter on its way to an 80-49 victory over Rutgers University-Camden in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night.
 
The loss drops the Scarlet Raptors to 2-11 overall and 1-11 in the NJAC. TCNJ improves to 9-8 overall and 6-6 in conference play. Rutgers-Camden has lost 10 straight against TCNJ and trails the all-time series, 64-12.
 
The Scarlet Raptors and Lions traded the lead twice in the early going, with Rutgers-Camden building a 9-5 lead on a layup by freshman guard Rahzirah Blocker with 6:59 left in the opening quarter. The Raptors didn't score again until the opening of the second quarter, as the Lions ran off the final 19 points of the opening frame. They received five points in that run from freshman guard Nina Branchizio and took the lead for good, at 11-9, on a layup by sophomore guard Nikki Alexatos.
 
By halftime, the Lions held a 37-24 lead and had nine players in the scoring column, led by 11 points from Branchizio. Blocker had 12 first-half points to account for half of the Scarlet Raptors' output.
 
TCNJ led, 64-37, heading into the fourth quarter after a 27-13 third-quarter run. The Lions' biggest lead of 32 points came right before the end of the game, at 80-48.
 
Junior guard Julia Setaro finished with 20 points and four assists for the Lions, while Branchizio added 14 points and five steals. Alexatos scored 13 and added six rebounds, while sophomore guard/forward Izzy Leazier notched 11 points. Freshman guard Arianna McCleod dished off five assists.
 
Blocker notched a game-high 22 points for Rutgers-Camden. Junior forward Salina Jones notched 12 points and sophomore guard Jania Pitts collected seven rebounds and five assists. Sophomore forward Carleigh Galasso blocked two shots and added six points.
 
Rutgers-Camden shot 19-for-44 (43.2 percent) from the floor as opposed to TCNJ's 31-for-65 (47.7). The Lions also drained 13 treys in 33 attempts (39.4), held a 38-24 advantage off the boards and forced 23 Scarlet Raptor turnovers.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Saturday with a 1 p.m. NJAC home game against Rutgers-Newark.