WAYNE, N.J. – Redemption. Vindication. Deliverance. Destiny.
Call it what you will.
For the first time in nearly two decades, the TCNJ women's basketball team can finally call itself champions of the NJAC.
Behind supremely balanced scoring and a suffocating defensive strategy, the Lions went wild in the second half and ran away from No. 23 William Paterson, claiming the NJAC championship with a 78-55 victory in an all-around masterclass on Sunday afternoon.
Senior captain Katie Fricker led all scorers with 17 points in her third attempt at a conference crown. She got plenty of help, with Brooke McFadden (14 points, 12 rebounds) posting a double-double to join Riley Ahrens (16), Grace Kowalski (14), and Amanda Baylock (13) in double figures in a championship-worthy performance.
TCNJ captured its first conference title since 2009, and off to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
The Lions (17-10) put an end to a long search for a ring and several heartbreaking defeats in recent years, a prolonged misery of three failed attempts in the title game in the last four seasons – two of those on their home floor. All of it is over now – the dancing shoes still fit.
The long-awaited celebration came under unlikely circumstances, a runaway victory against a nationally ranked Pioneers outfit that had lost just once all season and had handled both of the teams' two regular-season meetings by double digits. The third time was certainly the charm.
Both teams suffered through some early jitters, neither side making a field goal until Fricker's driving lay-in about three-and-a-half minutes in on the Lions' seventh attempt.
Fricker scored on the next possession as well, finishing a back-door pass from fellow captain Myah Hourigan-Hutton for the blue and gold's first lead at 4-2.
Ahrens made her presence felt with two early buckets off the bench, including a lay-in off a nice pass from McFadden to make it 8-6 in favor of TCNJ. After WPU sunk its first field goal with 20 seconds left in the opening quarter, snapping an 0-for-10 freeze, the Lions clung to a 9-8 edge at the close of the stanza.
The Pioneers extended their quarter-bridging run to 7-0 with a pair of baskets, including a 3-pointer, to open the second before McFadden banked in an elbow jumper and crashed the glass for an offensive rebound, drawing a foul on the put-back and splitting a pair at the line to cut the deficit to 13-12. The teams traded baskets for much of the remainder of the first, but the Lions had the last word.
TCNJ nosed back in front at 22-20 as Baylock found Kowalski on a back-door cut before slipping inside on an inbounds play for a lay-in from Kowalski.
Ahrens then came free on a lob from Kowalski and then broke ahead of the pack on a Kowalski steal for an uncontested basket with just over a minute to play. Baylock pump-faked and drove baseline for another bucket, sending the Lions into intermission with a 28-21 advantage at the tail end of an 12-2 burst over the last 5-plus minutes of the frame.
After misfiring on all 8 of their 3-point attempts in the first half, Baylock ended the drought with a step-back from the left wing in the first minute of the third quarter to extend the lead to double digits for the first time. Still leading by 10 a few minutes later, McFadden finished a feed from Kowalski through contact for a three-point play to make it 36-23 at the 7:15 mark.
Shots started falling fast and furious from there, on both ends, and the partisan crowd was ready to explode as the Pioneers got within 41-32. But Baylock drove and kicked to Ahrens, who buried a cold-blooded 3 with the shot clock winding down. WPU trimmed the TCNJ lead to eight, but Kowalski picked off a kick-out pass and took it the other way for a huge lay-in and a 46-36 lead late in the third.
It was 50-36 at the end of three, and after Kowalski swished a high-arcing 3-pointer from the left side, the Lions' dreams seemed close at hand. A couple minutes later, it was all but over.
Fricker answered a WPU basket with a hard-earned three-point play to make it 56-38, then nailed a corner 3 in transition for a 59-40 margin with just over 7 minutes left. The Lions went up 65-44 on a floater by Baylock with 4:06 remaining, and all that was left from there was the celebration.
Everyone cut a piece of the net, and just about everyone had a hand in returning to the top of the league.
There were the senior co-captains – Fricker with her dogged effort and tenacity, Hourigan-Hutton with her steady leadership and inside presence (seven rebounds).
There was McFadden, a double-double machine with her relentless motor.
Kowalski and Baylock, with their ball-handling and shot-making prowess, mirroring each other;s stat lines with 6-of-13 shooting and seven assists.
There was Ahrens, the transfer from Kean, who missed much of the first half of the season but has rounded into form down the stretch and put in 7 of her 11 attempts.
And the last one to remove the net was head coach Chessie Jackson, a champion at last after four NJAC runner-ups and eight semifinal appearances in her eight years.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ shot 46.7 percent from the field (28-for-60), 36.8 percent from 3-point range (7-for-19), and 75.0 percent at the line (15-for-20); the Lions were a sizzling 24-of-40 (54.5 percent) after the first quarter and made all five of their 3s in the fourth
- WPU shot 32.1 percent from the field (18-for-56), 11.8 percent from 3-point range (2-for-17), and 81.0 percent at the line (17-for-21)
- TCNJ outhustled the Pioneers to a 40-31 advantage on the glass, including 10 offensive rebounds – five of them coming on a single possession in the second half
- The Lions assisted on 21 of their 28 field goals and turned 14 WPU turnovers into 14 points
FOR WILLIAM PATERSON
- NJAC Player of the Year Renee Wells scored 14 points but was just 3-of-13 from the field
- Mattison Chiera finished with 12 points
- Jada Jacobs (11) and Patty Walsh (10) also reached double figures
STANDOUT LIONS
- Fricker was 6-of-13 from the field – the same as Baylock and Kowalski – and added three rebounds and two steals
- Ahrens had five rebounds and a block in addition to her hot shooting, which included 2-of-3 from deep
- Kowalski was all over the box score with five rebounds, seven assists, and two steals
- McFadden got to the line at will, scoring 10 of her 14 points at the stripe
- Baylock matched Kowalski with a career-high seven assists
NOTES
- Kowalski moved into 15th in program history with 234 career assists
- Fricker and Kowalski each have 99 career 3-pointers
- McFadden's 235 rebounds are 10th-most in a single season in TCNJ history
- Baylock's 68th 3-pointer of the year tied her for the sixth-highest single-season tally
- Maddie Bernhardt made her 50th 3-pointer of the season
UP NEXT
- The Lions will discover their NCAA Tournament opponent and destination during the Selection Show set for 2:30 p.m. on NCAA.com