CAMDEN, NJ (Feb. 5, 2025) – The College of New Jersey women's basketball team led all the way in its New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night as the Lions defeated Rutgers University-Camden, 61-50.
TCNJ, the co-leader in the NJAC along with Montclair State, improves to 12-2 in conference play and 16-5 overall. Rutgers-Camden falls to 8-13 overall and 4-10 in conference.
TCNJ has won its last 16 games against Rutgers-Camden and leads the all-time series, 70-12.
The Lions took a quick 5-0 lead and the closest the Raptors came after that was 5-4 after layups by freshmen
Hope Goodwine and
Courtney Edmundo. The Lions opened up a 15-8 advantage after one quarter and a 37-19 lead at the half. TCNJ placed eight players in the scoring column in the opening half, led by nine points from senior guard Nina Branchizio, who hit three treys.
TCNJ held a double-digit lead throughout the second half, with its biggest margin of 23 points (46-23) coming with 4:07 left in the third quarter.
Branchizio, sophomore guard Grace Kowalski and senior guard Arianna McCleod all scored 12 points for the Lions, with McCleod adding a team-high seven rebounds. Graduate forward Jaclyn Feit scored five points and blocked five shots for TCNJ.
Edmundo collected her seventh double-double of the season for Rutgers-Camden, grabbing 12 rebounds and 15 points. Senior guard
Rahzirah Blocker added 14 points and seven boards.
Senior forward
Taylor Hinson scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. The eight points pushed her past the 1,300-point milestone for her combined career at Cairn University (1,201 points in three seasons) and Rutgers-Camden (105 this season).
TCNJ shot 20-for-68 (29.4 percent) from the floor, while Rutgers-Camden went 19-for-52 (36.5). The Lions went 14-for-22 (63.6) from the line, while the Scarlet Raptors were 10-for-19 (52.6).
Rutgers-Camden held a 45-44 edge in rebounds but also made nine more turnovers (19-10).
Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC action on Saturday with a 3 p.m. home game against Kean University.
