By Zach Jacovini
Staff Writer
The College’s women's basketball team won against Rutgers-Camden, 80-49 on Wednesday, Jan. 26. The Lions’ offensive explosion throughout the entirety of the contest led to the 31-point win.
From the opening tip of the game, it was evident that the Lions were going to have two main focuses for the game: establishing an aggressive defensive presence and making a concerted effort to move the ball across the court each possession.
The team’s exceptional ball movement showed through the box score, as junior guard, business management major Julia Setaro, freshman guard, speech pathology and audiology major Nina Branchizio, sophomore guard/forward, health and exercise science major Izzy Leazier, and sophomore guard, psychology major Nikki Alexatos all ended up with double-figures at the end of the night.
The Lions’ constant passing led to a wide array of good looks from the three-point line, and the Lions capitalized by going 13 for 33 from three, shooting 39.4% as a team.
While many Lions contributed to the team's shooting for the night, special contributions from Branchizio, who was four for seven, and Leazier, who was three for three, were at the forefront of an offensive explosion.
While flashy passing and hot shooting were the most noticeable aspects of the Lions’ performance, the staunch defensive effort and work on the glass allowed the team to continuously keep possession away from Rutgers-Camden.
At the start of the first quarter, the Lions employed a strict full-court press, leading Rutgers-Camden to struggle to get the ball over half-court. As a result, the Lions forced the opposition into 23 turnovers.
When the Scarlet Raptors were able to get a shot off, a Lion was there to contest the shot, enabling the Lions to hold their opponent to a 43% shooting for the contest.
For now, the Lions move to 9-8 on the season.
