EWING, N.J. (2/28/09) - In a quest for a third-straight New Jersey Athletic Conference women's basketball championship, the Kean University women's basketball team fell to host The College of New Jersey, 69-57, in the NJAC Championship game on Saturday afternoon. Senior center Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored 19 points and had nine rebounds and seven blocks to lead the Lions, who avenged last year's 70-61 loss to Kean at home for the conference title, and earned the NJAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.
For the Cougars, junior Cardiss Jackman (Tobyhanna, Pa.) led all scorers with 25 points, including 22 in the second half, as Kean now awaits the announcement of the NCAA tournament field for an at-large bid on Monday morning. The Cougars had won the last two NJAC championships, while the Lions won their fourth conference championship.
Both teams came out of the gates slow, as TCNJ held just a 4-0 lead five minutes into the game, and the Cougars didn't make their first basket until the 13:39 mark when junior guard Alysha Taylor (Absegami, N.J.) made a lay-up.
The Lions followed with a 10-2 run to take a 14-4 lead midway through the first half, and would eventually lead by 14 points at 27-13 with 3:15 to go in the half, before taking a 30-17 lead at halftime.
Klimowicz had 13 points, as she hit 6-of-7 shots from the floor, to lead the Lions, while junior Danielle Brown (North Brunswick, N.J.) had six points and two blocks for the Cougars.
After the Lions extended the lead to 15 points with the first basket of the second-half, Kean scored eight straight points as Taylor and Jackman knocked down back-to-back three-pointers and Jackman added a jumper to trim the lead to 32-25 with 15:29 remaining.
Jackman knocked down another three-pointer to keep the Cougars within single-digits at 38-30, however TCNJ followed with a 17-4 run to push the lead out to 21 points at 55-34 with just under eight minutes to go.
The Cougars could pull no closer than 14 points the rest of the way until Jackman knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the final 34 seconds to put the final score at 69-57.
Taylor finished with 10 points, while senior guard Ebony Jackson (Newark, N.J.) had nine points and two steals before fouling out in the final minutes.
For the Lions, senior guard Alyssa Michella (Washington Twp., N.J.) finished with a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while four assists and three steals .
Junior guard Nicole Diaz (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J.) had 12 points, hitting 9-of-11 foul shots, while junior Alexandra Gregorek (Mahwah, N.J.) added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.