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(03/04/14 6:00am)
The College’s women’s basketball team was ousted from the NJAC Tournament last Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the semifinal round by William Paterson University, 81-70, all but officially ending the Lions’ season — and with it, the college basketball careers of four standout seniors: guards Tiffany DeTulio, Kelly Roddy and Colleen Duffy and forward Liz West.
Lions head coach Dawn Henderson and her players were understandably emotional following the game.
“I’m not crying because we lost,” Henderson said. “I’m crying because I’m not ready to say goodbye to them.”
The Lions fought hard, as expected, and never gave up. But on this night, they were no match for Pioneers guard Floriana Borova, who scored a career-high 48 points and simply dominated the game.
In the process, Borova exceed the Packer Hall record for most points by a women’s basketball player, set by Hillary Klimowicz with 35 points in 2009.
Earlier that day, Roddy and DeTulio received All-NJAC honors for the second year in a row, while Henderson was voted by her peers as the NJAC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in her 21-year career.
After Roddy and DeTulio both made the All-NJAC Second Team last season as juniors, Roddy earned a spot on the All-NJAC First Team and DeTulio was chosen as an Honorable Mention.
Henderson admitted she was far from thrilled to find out that William Paterson’s Borova had not been chosen as the NJAC Player of the Year.
“She considers herself the Player of the Year, and when she found she wasn’t (NJAC Player of the Year), I was very concerned,” Henderson said. “That being said, we certainly could have played better defense on her.”
And DeTulio, one of the many Lions forced to try to contain Borova, shared this sentiment.
“She’s a great player,” DeTulio said. “We knew (Borova) was going to hit baskets, but our goal was to keep her at her average, not let her double it.”
Dana Jeter, senior Pioneer and member of the All-NJAC Second Team, came out of the gates on fire, sinking her first seven shots and scoring 15 of her team’s first 21 points.
Jeter led the Pioneers in scoring at the end of the first half with 16, while Borova chipped in 14 on four-of-12 shooting. All 10 Lions who saw the floor in the first half hit at least one shot from the field.
In the second half it was the Borova show, though, as she poured in 34 points on 12-for-17 shooting from the field, equaling the Lions’ second half point total by herself and leading the Pioneers to victory.
“My teammates did everything right, — setting screens, making good passes and spreading the floor for me,” Borova said. “I just played my game. My threes were falling early, and I just got into a good rhythm scoring the ball. I found (Dana) Jeter for a few baskets in the beginning, but then they started to shut that down, and I just felt like I had to take over.”
Borova admitted the fact that she had been overlooked for NJAC Player of the Year honors had something to do with her career night against the College.
“It definitely gave me motivation, because I felt like I could have won it the last two years, but I didn’t,” Borova said. “But (Melissa) Tobie is a great player and very deserving as well.”
For Tobie, it was her second consecutive NJAC Player of the Year Award. A few days later, Tobie led Montclair State University past William Paterson 67-64 to a second consecutive NJAC title.
Despite the reality that the Lions will lose four of their key players this offseason, Henderson remains optimistic about next season, though it’s obvious she’s not quite ready to see the girls she’s grown so close to graduate just yet.
“They’re very special kids,” Henderson said. “I’m coach of the year because they make my job easy. They demand a lot of themselves and from each other, so I don’t have to make sure they’re doing the right things. They’re vocal, they’re talented and they’re smart. They’re all scholar athletes, and they’re good people. I’m going to miss them.”
Looking forward to next season, Henderson admitted she’s not quite sure who’s going to fill the leadership roles.
“I expect (junior guards) Kylie O’Donnell and Kelly Couglin to step up, and (junior guard) Angelica Esposito as well, but that’s probably the biggest thing: Who’s going to fill those shoes?” Henderson said. “Physically, we have kids who can play. The big mouths are graduating, and I say that lovingly, but we have a quiet group returning, so they’re going to have to step outside of their comfort zones.”
While the season didn’t end how the Lions had hoped, it was undoubtedly a terrific year that had so many memorable moments.
“We started playing together freshman year, and then Roddy and Duffy joined us sophomore year, and we’ve become a family,” West said.
This is a team that, despite being past its expiration date, will live on a long time.
“We’ve been together like every day of college,” DeTulio added. “Who knows what the rest of the year will bring for us, but I know we’ll be sisters forever.”
(02/25/14 6:00am)
Having fallen 63-49 to Montclair State University in its final regular-season game, the women’s basketball team failed to extend their seven-game winning streak heading into the NJAC Championship Tournament.
The result was an undesirable one for the Lions, who have beaten everyone in their conference except the Red Hawks at least once. It was still a night to be remembered, though, as the four seniors — guard Tiffany DeTulio, forward Liz West, guard Kelly Roddy and guard Colleen Duffy — were honored and joined by family and friends to celebrate their collegiate careers.
Roddy described the night as emotional.
“I can’t say enough about this team. I don’t even want to be a senior right now. I still want to be sophomore or a junior. I want to do this whole year over again,” she said.
The Lions didn’t play their A-game on this night, but as expected, they made no excuses, hung tough and fought until the final whistle.
“Their defense has given us trouble,” Roddy said. “They have (Nicosia) Henry on the top — she’s long and she’s strong. She’s so hard to pass around, she’s super athletic, and there’s (Melissa) Tobie, who’s also really long — it was so tough for our shooters to get one clean shot today. All credit to them, they’re a good team.”
Lions head coach Dawn Henderson also gave the opponents credit as well while remaining optimistic about the team’s postseason chances.
“They’re really good, so you can’t make too many mental mistakes,” Henderson said. “We gave up too many wide open threes. We gave up too many offensive rebounds, and we had 18 turnovers.”
Henderson knows the Lions have a shot at an NJAC title if they clean up their game for the playoffs.
“When we broke the press we broke it with short passes,” Henderson said. “When we tried to throw over the top we made mistakes. We just have to believe that and clean up a few of those mistakes. I really believe we have a chance at winning the (tournament).”
The night ended with a defeat, but the players will remember parts of Senior Night years from now.
“I wish I could say (I’ll remember) a win,” Roddy said. “But probably every moment leading up to the game. Just getting here, getting ready, being in the locker room, coming into the gym and warming up for the last time for a regular season game. And the opening ceremony was one of my favorite things.”
If the Lions defeat William Paterson at home on Tuesday, Feb. 25, they’ll either face Kean at home or Montclair on the road on Friday, Feb. 28, for the NJAC title.
The College split its two meetings with William Paterson this season, and as if the Lions needed any more motivation, the Pioneers effectively ended the Lions’ season last year in the NJAC semifinals.
(02/18/14 6:00am)
The women’s basketball team continued to dominate the competition this past week, as it annihilated Rutgers-Camden University, Rowan University and New Jersey City University by an average margin of over 30 points per contest, while scoring over 85 points per game on their way to clinching second place in the NJAC. With that silver medal finish, the Lions earned a first-round bye and a home game in the second round of the conference tournament next Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. in Packer Hall.
But before the Lions can begin to shift their focus to the postseason, they’ll host No. 11 Montclair State University in a marquee matchup between the NJAC’s top two teams.
With both squads locked into their respective positions in the conference tournament, one may be inclined to say this game doesn’t really matter. The Lions have more than enough motivation, though, as it’s Senior Night and Montclair is the only in-conference team the Lions have yet to beat this season — the Red Hawks topped the Lions at home last month, 56-46, in the teams’ only meeting this season.
“Ever since we lost to them, we’ve been wanting a second chance to play them, and especially since it’s senior night, we’re even more excited,” senior guard Colleen Duffy said.
With senior guard Kelly Roddy a little under the weather on Saturday night against New Jersey City, Duffy went to work for the Lions — who led by only 10 at halftime — pouring in a career-high 15 points, while adding eight rebounds and tacking on four assists.
And this has been the story for the College all season. When someone isn’t quite feeling it on a given night, different players have risen to the occasion.
“An opponent even said to Tiffany DeTulio Saturday night, ‘You have so many people who can come in and knock down shots’ — it’s definitely a big advantage for us,” Duffy said.
Head coach Dawn Henderson is feeling very optimistic and confident headed into their regular season finale versus Montclair.
“We are anxious to play them,” Henderson said. “It’s the two best teams in the conference. We lost by 10 the first time we faced them, and I don’t know that we played our best game, so I hope that we go in relaxed and ready to play our game.”
Senior co-captain Liz West is just as amped up and ready to go.
“These last few games have helped us learn and grow as a team, and we have a lot of confidence going into our matchup with Montclair,” West said. “Especially us seniors playing on Senior Night, we know how important it is to give it everything we’ve got, and we’re prepared to fight to the finish.”
Furthermore, a win against Montclair on Wednesday, Feb. 19, would be a huge confidence booster heading into the NJAC tournament, where there’s a strong possibility they’ll end up meeting in the finals.
For seniors West, DeTulio, Roddy and Duffy, Wednesday night will be an emotional one. While they now know it won’t be their last game at Packer Hall, the end of their respective basketball careers is undoubtedly nearing.
“It’s been a special group from the beginning,” Henderson said. “They’ve really bought into the system and the four of them have definitely put their marks on what it means to play TCNJ women’s basketball.”
(02/11/14 6:05am)
In what was supposed to be a busy three-game week, the women’s basketball team took care of business when Mother Nature finally permitted the players to lace them up, routing Rutgers-Newark University 70-48 and improving to 15-6.
“It was a weird week,” Lions head coach Dawn Henderson said. “With school being closed twice, we only had about three hours of practice this last week, and we started out a little slow on Saturday.”
When school was closed on their second gameday in a row last Wednesday, Feb. 5, the players used their snow day wisely, getting in a couple solid hours of full-court pickup hoops at Packer Hall.
Apart from the team’s usual motto of working to get a little better every day, senior guard Kelly Roddy said the team is also specifically looking to get off to better starts and not dig themselves holes early into these games.
The College trailed Rutgers-Newark 23-15 with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, but from then on, it was all Lions.
They closed the half with a 21-2 spurt and held the Scarlet Raiders scoreless over the final six minutes and change.
“The first five minutes was like a warm-up,” Roddy said. “When we decided to change up our defense and go man-to-man, our defensive energy started leading our offensive attack, and that’s really why we were able to pull away.”
Roddy tied her career-high with 20 points and added seven rebounds and four assists in just 24 minutes of play.
Senior guard Tiffany DeTulio and senior guard Liz West also turned in stellar performances. DeTulio contributed 16 points, four assists and three rebounds, while West went a perfect 5-5 from the field to go along with five rebounds and two steals.
“Roddy and Tiff were huge — they were scoring in so many different ways, hitting from deep, mid-range and inside. And these are the games I’ve come to expect from Liz,” Henderson said before laughing
and acknowledging that she doesn’t expect West to make every shot from here on out — though Henderson certainly would welcome it.
Among other notable contributors, forward Jessica Goldbach played a solid game, posting seven points and six rebounds, while hosting a block party with her four rejections. Goldbach was forced to miss some time earlier in the season with a concussion, but she has bounced back well.
“Jess was great for us, and she’s worked really hard to get back in the swing of things,” Henderson said.
Having won four games in a row and with less than a handful of games remaining, it appears the Lions might be hitting their stride at the perfect time: heading into the playoffs.
“This is a big week for us,” Roddy said. “If we’re able to get three wins going into our season finale versus Montclair State, we’ll have all the momentum.”
Currently in second place in the NJAC and right behind Montclair State, the College can clinch a top-two seed and a first-round bye in the conference tournament if they manage to knock off Rutgers-Camden University, Rowan University and New Jersey City University this week.
The Lions are back in action in Packer Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. as they take on Rowan.
(02/11/14 6:00am)
After enduring a three-game slide in the first week of the new semester, their longest losing streak of the season, the College’s women’s basketball team got back to their winning ways this past week, beating Stephens Institute of Technology, Richard Stockton College and Ramapo College by an average margin of 18 points per game.
Lions head coach Dawn Henderson expressed her approval of the team’s performance of late.
“I’m very pleased with the way we played this past week,” Henderson said. “We started a little slow against Stephens, but we continued to get better every game, and that’s what counts.”
The Lions are 14-6 overall and remain second in the NJAC with a conference record of 10-3 heading into the final five games of the regular season — all of which are in-conference contests.
“Every game is so important at this point,” Henderson said. “It’s a dogfight when it gets to February as always, with everyone positioning for the playoffs.”
Among all the positives from this past week, perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Lions’ recent winning streak has been their defense, as they held their opponents to less than 47 points per game.
The Lions began their week with a pair of 15-point victories against Stephens and Stockton. In their matchup against Ramapo on Saturday, Feb. 1, they allowed the Roadrunners only 33 points on eight made field goals, both season-bests, after only narrowly surviving in their previous showdown with Ramapo this season, a 65-61 home win.
“It was really important to win all three games this past week now that we’re so late in the season,” Henderson said. “Different people stepped up, and we looked a little bit more like ourselves.”
Despite the College’s recent success, the memories of the three-game skid are still fresh in the mind of Henderson.
“We’ve won three in a row, but I think we’re still trying to find our way out of the losing streak we had the week before,” Henderson said.
However, this past week was filled with so many positives that over-sharing the ball became a problem at times. While Henderson wants her team to take open shots when they’re in the flow of the offense, she conceded that this was an easily correctable issue, and that her team’s unselfish nature is part of what makes this team so good.
“That’s why I love this group,” Henderson said. “They share the ball — they don’t care whose name is in the box score and that’s why we have 14 wins.”
Still, the Lions have had plenty of standout stars this season on the court and in the classroom. While it is no surprise given the team’s reputation for being a roster filled with scholar athletes, junior point guard and nursing major Kylie O’Donnell was named to CoSIDA’s Capital One Academic All-District team for District II. O’Donnell has also received recognition for her performance on the hardwood this season, having been named to the Marymount University Tipoff All-Tournament Team and receiving NJAC player of the week honors during that same first week of competition. She currently leads the NJAC and ranks in the top-10 in the nation in free throw percentage at 91.3 percent, having made 63 of her 69 attempts.
The Lions are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 5, vs. Rutgers-Camden University at 6 p.m. in Packer Hall.
(01/28/14 8:00pm)
During the course of a season, it is expected that every team will see their fair share of highs and lows. What separates the good teams from the great ones, though, is the ability of the unit to stick together through thick and thin. Just as head coach Dawn Henderson didn’t want her team focusing on or thinking about their nine-game winning steak over the winter break, she also doesn’t want them to harp on their recent three-game skid this past week, which started with a 74-50 loss to William Paterson University.
Instead of dwelling too much on the negatives, including a dramatic, demoralizing come-from-behind 76-65 OT loss against Kean on Saturday, Henderson wants the Lions to be encouraged by the plethora of positives that she did see from her squad.
“At least we got see some of ourselves,” Henderson said. “We came out like our old selves in the first half and played really well on defense. We were moving and sharing the ball, hitting our shots, and we even got off to a good start in the second half with a couple backdoor cuts that resulted in easy layups.”
However, second half foul trouble (which led to Kean entering the bonus early and shooting a lot of free throws) and a season-high 25 turnovers ultimately helped spell doom for the Lions, who forced Kean to commit 25 turnovers in their first meeting this season, a 95-83 overtime home victory.
After holding a 41-22 lead at halftime, the Lions scored the first two buckets of the second half to push their lead to 23 points before Kean went on a quick 15-0 run that turned what was at the time a blowout into a 45-37 barnburner in a matter of minutes.
“I think in the second half when things weren’t going well for us the doubts started to creep in,” Henderson said. “We’re just trying to scratch, claw and work to get better every day.”
Despite their recent slide, the Lions remain in second place in the NJAC, and given that the team only recently has gotten back to being fully healthy, it’d be wise to expect them to rebound in a big way this coming week.
“I’m just telling them to be confident in themselves and each other,” Henderson said. “We’re having a great season, and in order for us to continue to get better and be successful, the most important thing is we have to have confidence.”
The Lions are back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 29, as they take on Richard Stockton College.
(01/22/14 8:43pm)
After having their nine-game winning streak snapped by conference-leading Montclair State University (14-2), the women’s basketball team rebounded on Saturday with a 72-54 victory over New Jersey City University, improving their overall record to 11-3 on the season.
While most students were relaxing and enjoying the break from classes, the Lions got busy taking their opponents to school. Having gone 6-1 over the break while sweeping their competition at the Cruzin Classic in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the Lions are currently in 2nd place in the NJAC standings, though after Montclair fell to Kean on Saturday, the two teams share a tie for best conference record at 8-1.
While head coach Dawn Henderson is very pleased with the way her team has been playing and working to get better every day, she downplayed the significance of their recent win streak.
“I tell the girls: Don’t worry about winning streaks,” Henderson said. “Just work hard every day and focus on the game that’s ahead.”
In the beginning of the season, the Lions were having no problems scoring the ball, but they were struggling to consistently produce the stingy, stifling defense that has been the benchmark of the College program for so many years.
Through the Lions’ first seven games, they allowed opponents to put up nearly 69 points per game. During the winter break they’ve held their competition to only 56 points a night.
“We have done a much better job defensively, slowly improving as the season has gone by, but we still need to continue to improve and get a little bit better every day,” Henderson said.
With just 11 regular-season games remaining, the Lions are now just past the halfway-point. They have already faced nine of their 11 remaining opponents, and given their 8-1 mark against these teams, one may be inclined to pencil the Lions into the playoffs already.
Despite all of the positives, Henderson is certainly not one to count her meals before they have been cooked.
“We’ve overcome so much as a team, playing through a lot of injuries, and having a lot of players step up for us,” Henderson said. “It’s great that we’re finally getting back to full strength, but now we’re going to have to work really hard to find our rhythm playing at full strength since we’ve been missing players for most of the season.”
Furthermore, many of their wins against these opponents were close, hard-fought battles.
“Nothing is easy the second time around,” Henderson said. “These teams are going to be fighting hard to get back at us.”
The Lions have a three-game road trip this week before returning home for a two-game homestand Monday, Jan. 27, against Stevens Institute of Technology and Wednesday, Jan. 29, against Richard Stockton College in Packer Hall, as the Lions look to build their chemistry and make another playoff push.
(12/02/13 8:00pm)
After dropping its home opener to Moravian College and falling to 1-2 on the season, the women’s basketball team managed to rattle off two straight victories against William Paterson University and Richard Stockton College to move over .500 heading into Thanksgiving break.
The Lions (3-2, 2-0) are averaging nearly 76 points a game this year and have been outscoring opponents by more than eight points an outing.
While head coach Dawn Henderson is happy her team’s offense is scoring, she expects to see more consistency on the defensive end.
“Defensively, we need to be better,” Henderson said. “It’s awesome that we’re scoring all these points, but we have to get back to basics. Moravian is a great team. It’s always a battle when we face them, but we can’t be giving up 86 points.”
Sometimes, a good defense can be a team’s best offense. But while the Lions have only failed to score 79 points once this year, improvements on the defensive end can only help in the long run, reducing the burden of responsibility on the offense to win games by shooting the lights out.
However, an efficient offense did return the Lions to the win column against William Paterson for an important victory. Having suffered one- and five-point losses already, the Lions had yet to win a truly close game.
“Beating William Paterson was a big confidence-boosting win for us,” Henderson said. “We are a really resilient, hardworking team, and that would have been a really tough one to lose.”
In the Lions’ most recent game, they were able to hold Stockton to just 60 points, while scoring 89 points on 56 percent shooting from the field.
Both of these season highs came despite multiple injury issues. Among them was junior guard Kylie O’Donnell being limited by an ankle injury and junior forward Jessica Goldbach missing the game with a concussion.
“Defensively, we need to make it our goal to hold teams to 60 points,” Henderson said. “We need to do a better job rebounding, but this was a step in the right direction.”
Of those who stepped up in the Lions’ most lopsided win of the year, senior guards Tiffany DeTulio and Kelly Roddy really stood out, posting a combined 38 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals, while shooting over 63 percent from the field.
“We’re a really balanced team, and we’re just playing team basketball,” O’Donnell said. “I think the biggest thing is Coach is always reminding us to have fun out there. When we have fun, we stay loose, and that’s when we’re at our best.”
With key Lions dealing with injuries, the four-day Thanksgiving break couldn’t have come at a better time for the team.
“We had a lot of help from the training staff before we left, and we will continue to work with them when we get back,” O’Donnell said.
After enjoying Thanksgiving break, Henderson and the Lions are looking forward to getting back to basics this coming week.
The Lions return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 4, as they host Kean University in Packer Hall.
(11/19/13 6:00am)
In sports, it’s hard to say whether there is such a thing as an encouraging loss, as the women’s basketball team showed while putting forth strong performances in its opening weekend, which featured both a win and a last-second defeat.
Though the Lions fell just short to Haverford College in a 50-49 defeat that came down to the last shot, coach Dawn Henderson was very happy with her team’s effort this weekend and expressed great optimism moving forward.
After shooting the lights out in their season debut en route to an 81-64 victory against Lynchburg College, where every Lion scored at least three points, the team showed its ability and willingness to battle until the final whistle, regardless of whether shots were falling that night.
“We had a lot of fight. It was a physical, exhausting game that went back and forth,” Henderson said. “Both teams’ legs were tired, and some of the shots that were falling last night weren’t falling tonight. Either team could have gotten down on themselves. It was like a prize-fight. No one could throw the knockout punch, but really what happened is neither team would allow the knockout punch to come.”
The Lions had a lot of quality contributors this weekend, but Kylie O’Donnell was on fire. Through the first two contests, O’Donnell averaged 19.5 points per game while shooting a blistering 13-18 from the field, connecting on both three-point attempts and netting all 11 free throws.
“Kylie O’Donnell practically won the game for us at the end,” Henderson said.
After Haverford took a 48-46 lead on a go-ahead three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining in regulation, O’Donnell drove the lane and scored. She was fouled on the play and made the fre throw, completing a three-point play to give the Lions the lead with 13 seconds left. But Haverford recaptured the lead for good on a jumper with 7 seconds left.
“We played with a lot of confidence and showed we have a lot of fortitude,” Henderson said. “Overall, it was a really good weekend. I can’t remember the last time we scored 80 points. So, that was great. And defensively there were a lot of really good things I saw. You’re going to have games where you have to grind it out and grab one more rebound or make one more free throw. Credit Haverford for making one more play than us tonight.”
The Lions will be back in action Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. as they host Moravian College in their home opener.