EWING, N.J. (Nov. 21, 2023) – The College of New Jersey women's basketball team placed 11 players in the scoring column, including six in double figures, as it defeated Rutgers University-Camden, 114-55, in the New Jersey Athletic Conference opener for both teams here Tuesday night.
 
TCNJ improves to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the NJAC, while Rutgers-Camden falls to 0-5 and 0-1. The Lions, who have won their last 13 games against the Scarlet Raptors, are 67-12 in the all-time series against Rutgers-Camden.
 
TCNJ scored the first six points of the game on three-pointers by graduate student guard Julia Setaro and junior guard Nina Branchizio before the Raptors got on the board with a layup by sophomore guard/forward Taja Brown. After two more treys by the Lions, coming from grad student guard Natalie Kolb and junior guard Arianna McCleod, Rutgers-Camden senior guard Rahzirah Blocker rattled off five straight points to cut the Raptor deficit to 12-7.
 
That was the closest the Scarlet Raptors came the rest of the way. TCNJ followed with nine straight points and 18 of the next 21 points to grab a 30-10 lead after one quarter.
 
By halftime, the Lions held a 65-15 lead, with both Branchizio and freshman guard Grace Kowalski scoring 12 points apiece and Setaro adding 10 to lead nine players in the scoring column. For the Scarlet Raptors, Blocker had a team-high nine points at the break.
 
The Lions held a 98-36 lead after three quarters.
 
Kowalski led the Lions with 26 points, while Branchizio notched 15 and both senior guard/forward Izzy Leazier and senior forward Isabella Cafaro added 14 apiece. Setaro and sophomore guard Katie Fricker both scored 10. Fricker added 13 rebounds for a double-double, while Kowalski had eight assists and Leazier added seven.
 
Blocker paced the Scarlet Raptors with 21 points, hiking her career total to 769. Freshman forward A'yanna Morton notched a career-high 16 points and Brown collected 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
TCNJ shot 43-for-78 (55.1 percent) from the field, including 17-for-36 (47.2) from three-point range. Rutgers-Camden shot 21-for-63 (33.3) overall and was 0-for-9 from three-point range.
 
The Lions held a 42-36 advantage off the boards and made only five turnovers to the Raptors' 16.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Monday with a 7 p.m. non-conference game at Alvernia University. They return to NJAC action November 29 when they host Stockton University at 6 p.m.