The Rowan women’s basketball team lost for the first time in four games against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) by a score of 69-53. This loss marks the Profs second loss against the TCNJ this season.

The first quarter began with TCNJ taking an early lead. This was mainly due to the scoring ability of most TCNJ players. The Lions lead the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) in three-point percentage, and they showed it by hitting multiple shots beyond the arc. Grace Kowalski’s stepback three was the highlight of the quarter for the Lions. 

On the offensive end, the Profs struggled to convert open looks and layups throughout the quarter. This problem has been evident in their matchup in both games against the Profs this season. 

“Last game against them we missed a lot of layups,” head coach Kate Pearson said. “We spoke about it and after we missed a few this time I think we got in our heads about it.”

Despite the struggles on layups, the team is still getting high-percentage looks. If they can convert those the next time these teams play then the game will look differently.

Coming out of the half the Profs attempted to use the size they had to their advantage right away. Shayla Johnson was the big beneficiary of the additional emphasis on getting touches in the post. 

Due to some part of Johnson’s play, the Profs were able to bring the score to within two points, but TCNJ responded with a run of their own.

Johnson finished with 14 points and secured nine rebounds. She’s been playing her best ball as of recent, as this performance came on the heels of a double-double last week against Kean. 

“I am focused on playing my best because it helps us win,” Johnson said.

One of the big problems with running a bigger lineup for Rowan was their ability to have both a good offensive lineup and a defensive lineup on the floor at the same time. With TCNJ’s speed and shooting it causes a lineup with too many bigs to be problematic on the defensive end. On the other side if you go with a small ball lineup then it takes away a big advantage on the offensive end of the court. 

“We are trying to put everyone in the best lineups to succeed,” Pearson said. “We try to make sure that we balance offense and defense with certain lineups.” 

With a team like TCNJ, it doesn’t matter if you play man-to-man or zone; if they are shooting well then the opposing team does not have a chance. 

“I just think man or zone we needed to be more active,” Kate Herlihy said. “We just need to close out better on shooters. Man or zone we are great at both, we are both very active. We let them get too many open threes early on in the game and I think it spiraled downhill from there.”

The final quarter of play was all TCNJ with the team hitting back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter, which proved to be the dagger. 

Kate Herlihy finished as the team-high scorer with 20. The points Herlihy was scoring were mostly jumpers with a lot of contested looks. This marks Herlihy’s second game in a row. 

Rowan’s next game will be senior night against Rutgers-Newark. The postseason will begin soon for the Profs, where they may play TCNJ for the third time. Despite losing two times the team has not lost confidence.

“It is hard to beat a team three times,” Johnson said. “Especially if it’s us, we are always the team to beat in the NJAC.”

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