Galloway NJ - Stockton University (9-10, 5-7 NJAC) battled in a tightly contested first half but ultimately fell to The College of New Jersey (14-15, 10-2 NJAC) 70-58 on Wednesday night.

The game was a back-and-forth battle early on, with neither team gaining a significant advantage. In the final minute of the first quarter, Skylar Fowlkes (Vineland/Vineland) grabbed a crucial rebound and converted to tie the game heading into the second period. The teams finished the opening quarter with 14 points each.

In the second quarter, Katie Rausch (South Brunswick/South Brunswick) provided a spark with two three-pointers but TCNJ's Nina Branchizio responded with her own, gaining her ninth point on her third three-pointer of the game. The evenly matched half saw Stockton trailing by just two at the break, 29-27, after both teams put up nearly identical scoring numbers, with TCNJ edging Stockton 15-13 in the second.

The Ospreys continued to battle in the second half, but TCNJ pulled away in the fourth quarter, taking their largest lead of the game at 15 points, and Stockton fell 70-58.

Despite the deficit, Grace Speer (Estell Manor/ACIT) and Rausch led the offense, giving the Ospreys half of their total points with Speer collecting 13 and Rausch shooting 4-7 (57.1%) from three-point range and leading the team with 16.

Fowlkes made her presence felt on the glass, collecting a game-high 10 rebounds, and Imene Fathi (Wildwood/Wildwood) dished seven assists, but it wasn't enough to slow down TCNJ's late push.

Katie Fricker topped the balanced Lions with 17 points followed by Branchizio with 14 points and Arianna McCleod with 13.

Stockton will look to bounce back in their next matchup at home against Rutgers-Newark on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.