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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Graci Semptimphelter vs. TCNJ 3-6-26
Jose Figueroa
49
TCNJ TCNJ 17-11,14-4 NJAC
84
Winner John Carroll JCU 25-4,11-3 NCAC
TCNJ TCNJ
17-11,14-4 NJAC
49
Final
84
John Carroll JCU
25-4,11-3 NCAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
TCNJ TCNJ 12 7 15 15 49
John Carroll JCU 22 17 26 19 84

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | JCUSID

John Carroll Roars Past TCNJ in first Home NCAA Tournament Game in Program History

The Blue Streaks shot the lights out in the DeCarlo Center

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – The John Carroll Women's Basketball team has been to the big dance five times in program history.

But tonight was historic, as it was the first time at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center and JCU shined.  

Postgame Press Conference

John Carroll scored the game's first 11 points as Graci Semptimphelter caught fire in the early going with 7 of the first 11. 

"Every game we write our goals on the board, and today was an 8-0 run to start, which is exactly what we were looking to do," Ryncarz stated. "From there, we continued to push the pace, obviously the third quarter was great for me, but in the first quarter, Graci was hitting 3's and that's the big thing this year, having multiple people step up." 

TCNJ finally got on the board at the 6:31 mark. The Blue Streaks kept on rolling as the quarter continued. Kaylie McKenney got hot next, with five quick points to extend the lead to 18-4 with 2:38 left. A late McKenney layup upped the advantage to 22-12 JCU after one. 

Semptimphelter kept rolling with a pair of triples out of the break. Carmen Heuker then got in on the party. The offenses grinded to a halt for a four-minute stretch in the middle of the quarter, as the defenses settled into the game. 

A Nicci Finazzo jumper snapped JCU out of the cold spell. And with time expiring in the half, Finazzo grabbed an offensive rebound and put up a layup to cement the advantage at half, 39-19.

John Carroll will take the 20-point lead and they had from the first half and continue their surge in the second half. The Blue Streaks started out hot courtesy of Ava Ryncarz. She would shoot four times from behind the arc and hit all of them to start the third quarter. 

"Something our staff always leaves them with coming out of halftime is to have the first three minutes of the quarter be our biggest punch," Coach Beth Andrews commented. "That was emphasized coming out of halftime."

Despite being down, TCNJ continued to fight. Katie Fricker made a tough and one to quiet the John Carroll crowd. 

John Carroll continued to make bucket after bucket. Another three from Ryncarz, an and-one for Semptimphelter and more ended the third quarter with a score of 65-34.

With 10 minutes remaining in the game, both teams gave it their all on the court. But as the clock got closer to zero and both teams emptied their benches, the Blue Streaks would continue dancing with a final score of 84-49.

McKenney would lead the Blue Streaks with 19 points, followed by Ryncarz and Semptimphelter. Ryncarz would get a monster double-double with 17 points and 19 rebounds. Semptimphelter's 18 points in 22 minutes included 4 assists. 

Next Up
The Blue Streaks will play Saturday, March 7 at 8pm against the SUNY New Paltz Hawks and the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center. 
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