NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark junior center Courtney Vacca (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) hauled down a team-high 12 rebounds while adding nine points, five assists, four blocked shots and two steals, but senior center Hillary Klimowicz powered inside for 24 points, 16 rebounds and nine blocked shots to help The College of New Jersey give Lion coach Dawn Henderson her 300th victory at the school and her 200th New Jersey Athletic Conference win.
NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play
Senior guard Erika Jordan (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) started and finished a 16-3 run with 3-point jumpers to give the Scarlet Raiders (8-8, NJAC 2-3) a 53-51 lead with 1:36 remaining. But, a blocked shot by Kutch and a steal by senior guard Alyssa Michella with just 18 seconds left cancelled off set a pair of Lion turnovers in the final 1:18 to set the stage for Kutch's free throws.
Sophomore guard Kelsey Kutch dropped in a pair of free throws with 7.9 second left in regulation to save TCNJ (12-3, NJAC 4-1) from a late meltdown defeat.
The 6-foot-3 Klimowicz went high in the middle of the lane to force Raider senior guard Youngor Kehleay (Eatontown, NJ/Monmouth Regional) to miss a possible game-winning free throw before snaring the defensive rebound as time expired in regulation.
In overtime, Kutch broke the ice with a pair of free throws before junior guard Karen Lassoni drained a trey with 3:28 left to give the Lions some breathing room. Following a free throw by Klimowicz, Kehleay knocked down fifth 3-point jumper of the game for Rutgers-Newark's only points in the period. Klimowicz followed with another free throw before senior guard Lisa Koch dropped in three of four tries from the charity stripe in the final 28 seconds to close out the scoring.
Led by Klimowicz's six-for-10 showing at the foul line, TCNJ ultimately won the game by making 17 of 25 chances while Rutgers-Newark went to the line just five times, making just one free throw.
Kehleay, who now has made 11 3-point baskets in the Raiders' last two games, finished with team highs of 17 points and six assists.
Senior guard Jayne Lin Jones (Rockaway, NJ/Newark Academy) got the Raider back into the game in the second half by coming off the bench to sink three consecutive 3-point jumpers. She finished with a career-high 14 points, making four of 11 from beyond the arc.
R-N was playing without freshman scoring leader Jared Tactuk (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) who is nursing an ankle sprain suffered in the first half of Wednesday night's NJAC loss at Montclair State.
Michella netted 10 points for the Lions who won their ninth straight game. Kutch grabbed seven rebounds to go along with six points, three assists and two blocked shots.
Henderson, who entered the season at 32nd on the active NCAA Division III women's basketball coaches list for victories, is now 346-167 overall in her 20th season as a head coach. At TCNJ, she has posted a 300-117 overall ledger while registering a 200-58 mark in conference play. She leads all active NJAC women's basketball coaches in victories.
Rutgers-Newark visits William Paterson for an NJAC twinbill on Wednesday. The women's tip off at 5 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 o'clock.
