Box Score
Holland, MI…The College of New Jersey women’s basketball team’s quest for having a chance to play for the program’s first national championship was brought to an end as undefeated George Fox University tied an NCAA Tournament single-game record with 14 3-pointers.
The Bruins (31-0) used those 3-pointers to defeat the Lions on Friday by the score of 67-52 at the DeVos Field House on the campus of Hope College in Holland, MI.
For the game, George Fox went 14-for-28 from long range good for an even 50 percent.
The loss brought an end to TCNJ’s 13-game winning streak dropping them to 27-5.
The Lions will get to take the court one more time this season taking on Amherst College in the consolation game in a 10 a.m. start on Saturday.
Amherst fell to Washington University of St. Louis by the score of 65-49 as the Bears move on to face George Fox in the 2009 NCAA Division III Championship Game.
“Certainly, George Fox is a great team. They’ve got good balance,” TCNJ coach Dawn Henderson said. “ They did the things they do normally do, and we didn’t do the things we do normally.”
George Fox center Kristen Shielee (Gresham, OR/Gresham) presented TCNJ center Hillary Klimowicz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood), who was tabbed the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association Division III Player of the Year on Thursday, with her biggest challenge of the season. Klimowicz led the Lions with 19 points, but limited to shooting 8-for-19 from the floor.
Klimowicz just missed a double-double of the season with nine rebounds.
Shielee finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, and five blocked shots.
Sophomore Kelsey Kutch (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) added 14 points for the Lions to go with six rebounds, while Alexandra Gregorek (Mahwah, NJ/Academy of Holy Angels) added nine points.
It was George Fox’s performance on the perimeter that was the difference with Sage Indendi (Livingston, MT/Park) leading the way. The freshman finished with a game-high 23 points and made six-of-eight 3-pointers.
Shooting from 3-point range was the key for the Bruins in the opening half as well as they carried a 34-26 advantage into the break. George Fox made seven 3-pointers in the period and shot 43.8 percent from behind the arc, including one at the final buzzer by Indendi that gave the Bruins their biggest lead of the half.
TCNJ's biggest lead came in the game's opening four minutes at 9-5 as Kutch knocked down a jumper.
The Lions were led by Klimowicz in the opening half as she netted 10 points.