When the season began if there was one concern Chessie Jackson had it was about the limited depth on the roster.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, The College of New Jersey’s women’s basketball caoch has seen that weakness become a great strength
“Our depth has been awesome and continues to get deeper with players like Grace Kowalski and Nina Branchizio really stepping up these last few games,’’ said Jackson. “Sometimes depth can hurt teams, but in our case, with low roster numbers, I think it has been a huge advantage for us. We’ve had a few starters and key players who struggled a little at times, but when you can go to the bench and rely on the next person to step up, it’s a huge advantage. Hoping that we can ride that all the way to the end.’’
The next step for the Lions (13-7, 10-3 NJAC) will be Wednesday when Kean (14-7, 10-3 NJAC) visits Packer Hall for a 5 p.m. start.
It’s a critical game as TCNJ, Kean and Stockton are all 10-3 in the league and tied for first place with Ramapo and New Jersey City a game behind at 9-4.
“The team is feeling good and gaining confidence with every game,’’ Jackson stated. “I’ve been impressed by the fact that new people are stepping up each game to put up big numbers – our depth is our strength and I think it really has been helping our team to play free and without too much individual pressure, because if one player falters, one or two others can step up. It’s a great dynamic heading into the final few weeks.’’
The Lion are in the midst of a season long four-game winning streak and the Cougars come to Ewing having seen NJCU snap their seven-game winning streak on Saturday.
Jackson doesn’t want her team concerned with an opponent as much as themselves.
“We are trying to keep the team focused on the controllable factors, which has nothing to do with who we are playing,’’ said Jackson. “They all know that we are tied for 1st with Kean, but the message is really, let’s focus on us and how we can be at our best on Wednesday. It’s just another game.’’
As the conference season begins to wind down there will be a few more, “just another game” as the Lions look to win the regular season and gain the top-seed in the playoffs.
Both TCNJ and Kean are very potent offensive teams averaging 70.0 and 71.1 points respectively, but the Lions have shown to be the better defensive team thus far.
Grad student Julia Setaro leads the Lions with 14.8 points a game, junior Nina Branchizio averages 10.8 points and leads in steals, freshman Grace Kowalski scores at a 9.1 clip and is second in assists, senior Izzy Leazier leads in assists with 49 and senior Kaitlyn Deiter grabs a team high 5.7 rebounds a game.
Kean is coached by former TCNJ assistant Mandy King, and this year longtime TCNJ assistant Wendy Collins joined King’s staff.
The Cougars are led by freshman Gigi Gamble, the reigning NJAC Rookie of the Week, with 17.9 points, senior Brittany Graff gets 15.4 points and junior Macy Seaman grabs 7.2 rebounds and Delran’s Riley Ahrens, a freshman, hauls in 6.3 caroms.
The Lions will be looking to the depth and the veterans down the stretch.
“I think that this season has seen its highs and lows and our veteran players have been here before and they know how fun and exciting this time of year is.’’ said Jackson. “Really trying to keep them composed and focused on one day at a time.’’