The New Jersey College women’s basketball team had no fabulous ending when they competed with New Jersey City for the conference championship.
No, there was no Cinderella ending at number 8 of the Lions sown, but they proved that this team – without the seniors – is ready to realize its potential.
After leading most of the game, TCNJ saw the 6th rally in New Jersey City recently to capture the second consecutive New Jersey Athletics Championships with a 58-52 victory in Jersey City on Saturday night .
Lewis (14-13) scored the 9th number of the Rutgers-Newark, and then Keane and the 4th number of William Patterson won the championship.
“We worked well with the game plan and kept their key players under control,” TCNJ coach Chessie Jackson said. “We just fought on the boards. We are a young team and this season we have had ups and downs. But I’m really proud of their efforts and made some great strides when we needed them. “
All of this from a team that didn’t play .500 basketball in mid-February, TCNJ is sure to have grown into the playoffs.
In the title game, Julia Setaro led with 20 points, Nina Branchisio scored 12, and the Lions got another strong game from Sydney Bloom with nine points, and Caitlin Daiter helped with six rebounds.
“I’m really proud of this band,” Jackson said. “We had to learn some lessons the hard way, and it was great to see it all come together in the end. The silver is that we should not say goodbye to anyone. “
Yes, the entire TCNJ list will return in 2022-23.
Jersey City (13-9) led Laney Fox with 16 points, Jimira Johnson scored 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Demaris Rodriguez – 11 points and 6 assists.
The Lions, who led more than 25 minutes, started the fourth quarter with a score of 42-41.
Unfortunately, it was only after the NJCU seized a 47-42 advantage that New Jersey College scored its first point in the quarter at 5:24 after Bloom’s free throw.
Setoro scored a big 3-point to make the score 49-46 at 3:46 by the end of the game. Setaro’s charity throw made the score 49-47, but the Lions couldn’t get close in the final minutes.
TCNJ was only 3-on-12 off the floor in the final period.
If there were bright statistics, it was that the Gothic Knights had a 21 second chance compared to the top five Lions, and the TCNJ topped it 30-4.
It was a great run, and the growth of this young team is definitely leading to a very bright future at New Jersey College.
“It will be very well postponed next year,” Jackson said.
The Lions have certainly laid the groundwork for a great future.
