By Tyler Morello
Staff Writer
Coming off of four straight wins, the College’s women's basketball team continued their dominant conference play against Rutgers–Camden and Rutgers–Newark earlier this month, winning both of their matchups. They improved to 17-5 on the season and 13-2 in New Jersey Athletic Conference play.
Traveling to Camden, New Jersey, on Feb. 5, the Lions secured a 61-50 win after using a strong first half to propel them. The College came out firing, outscoring the Scarlet Raptors 15-8 in the first quarter, then going on multiple runs to be up 37-19 at the half.
Rutgers–Camden attempted to rally in the second half as the Lions struggled mightily from the field, shooting 19% and 13% from three. The lead consistently stayed around 15 points until the very end, where the Lions ended up with an 11-point victory.
The trio of senior Nina Branchizio, senior Arianna McCleod and sophomore Grace Kowalski poured in 12 points each. Junior Myah Hourigan-Hutton chipped in eight points for the Lions.
With the battles the College faced on offense, their defense was clicking on all cylinders. Their defensive intensity forced Rutgers–Camden into tough shots as they continued to rally to the ball and capitalize on turnovers to generate some of their offense.
The Lions had 11 steals and forced a total of 19 turnovers. This allowed them to prevail despite not having the greatest offensive day. Fifth-year Jaclyn Feit accounted for all five of the squad’s blocks, good for her season high.
Returning to Packer Hall on Saturday, Feb. 8, the Lions found the offensive firepower they lacked against Rutgers–Camden, defeating Rutgers–Newark 86-45. They shot 37% from three, burying 17 for the game.
The College led 5-4 before outscoring the Scarlet Raiders 17-4 the rest of the quarter thanks to six made three-pointers as a team. Branchizio and McCleod had two each in the quarter.
The College hit five more threes in the second quarter to put more salt in the wound and ended up scoring more points in the first half than the Scarlet Raiders did the entire game. At the half, they led 48-25. The Lions capitalized on 24 Scarlet Raider turnovers, 11 of which were steals.
Freshman Maddie Bernhardt led the Lions in the final frame, putting up a career-high 13 points all in the fourth quarter. Branchizio and McCleod reached double figures for the College, while junior Katie Fricker had a team-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds.
