WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The TCNJ women’s basketball team suffered extended scoreless droughts at the end of each of the final two quarters in a tight 55-49 loss to host Williams in the championship of the Morin Memorial Tournament on Sunday.
Nina Branchizio scored a team-high 14 points for TCNJ and made four 3-pointers to become just the second player in program history to surpass 200 career triples.
The Lions (2-1) trailed by just one, 34-33, before going scoreless for the final 7:05 of the third quarter. They came right back with eight straight to open the fourth, however, pulling even for the first of three times in the final frame on a three-point play by Grace Kowalski with 7:13 left in the fourth.
TCNJ tied it twice more before going in front one last time, 49-46, on a 3-pointer by Katie Fricker with 3:06 left. Those were the last points for the Lions, and the Ephs (2-0) went ahead for good at 52-49 on Tatum Leuenberger’s 3-pointer with 1:28 to go.
Branchizio knocked down two 3-pointers in the first 2:26 of game time, part of a back-and-forth first frame that ended with the Ephs up 18-16 after a pair of free throws by Cassidy Brown. The senior sharpshooter opened the second stanza with another triple, ultimately draining a fourth during a 5-0 run to close the half that pulled the Lions level at 28-28 at the break.
Branchizio’s lay-up in the third trimmed the Williams edge down to 34-33 and preceded the Lions’ lengthy drought.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Neither team shot better than 33 percent from the field, but the Ephs used a 44-28 rebounding advantage and 16 offensive boards to create extra possessions
- Branchizio played all 40 minutes and finished 4-of-12 from beyond the arc
- Arianna McCleod scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds
- Grace Kowalski joined the two TCNJ co-captains in double figures with 10 points, also adding four rebounds and four assists
- Myah Hourigan-Hutton finished with seven points and four rebounds
- Micah Walton paced Williams with 14 points, while Ellie Tounkara and Arianna Gerig (nine rebounds) tallied 12 apiece
NOTES
- Branchizio passed Julia Setaro ’24 (199) for second on the all-time 3-point charts
- Kowalski and McCleod have scored in double figures in all three games to open the season
UP NEXT
- The Lions head to Stevens on Saturday
