Ewing, N.J. (1/20/20) – The Kean University women's basketball team got back on the winning track with a late rally at The College of New Jersey in a rescheduled NJAC matchup on Monday afternoon in a 67-63 win.

The win puts the Cougars in second place in the NJAC standings halfway through the conference slate with a 7-2 mark. 

The Lions (10-6, 7-2 NJAC) raced out of the gate with six straight points and pushed that lead out to double-digits by the end of the first period, fueled by an 18-5 run.  Kean chipped away but still trailed by double-digits (38-26) at the break.

The Cougars diminished the TCNJ lead to 52-46 at the end of the third quarter, thanks to eight points from Sarah Olivero off the bench. Kean cut it to 54-52 with 6:30 remaining on a layup from Shannon McCoy, but the Lions answered back with a trey to put TCNJ back up by five. The Cougars countered with a triple of their own from Olivero to pull within two, 57-55.

Kean took their first lead of the day, a lead they would not relinquish, with a lay-up from Cindy Foresta with 2:12 to play (61-59). The Lions had a couple of looks on the other end, however they would not fall, and the Cougars hit two more free throws to push the lead to four. A TCNJ bucket pulled the Lions within two, but Kean made its free throws on the other end to seal the game.

Olivero and McCoy finished with 13 points each with five and eight rebounds respectively.  Senior Payce Lange finished with a double-double 19 points and 11 rebounds. 

Kean returns to action on Wednesday when they host New Jersey City University.