It’s never too early to start looking at league titles and playoff positioning in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. That is what makes Wednesday’s first-place showdown in women’s basketball between The College of New Jersey and William Paterson one of the biggest games of the season. The Lions (11-5, 7-2 NJAC), who have dropped two straight conference games, are hosting the Pioneers (12-4, 8-1 NJAC), who have won 10 of the last 11 to take over the top spot. Tip-off at Packer Hall is set for 5 p.m. This will be the second meeting this season, with TCNJ having won the first game, 50-48, on an Arianna McCleod basket at the buzzer. There was a silver lining in the loss to New Jersey City on Saturday as standout guard and captain Nina Branchizio reached the 1,000 point plateau becoming the 18th player in school history to achieve the milestone. Certainly, the senior would like to add enough to the total to push the Lions passed Paterson. But, the Pioneers have been the hottest team in the league since the earlier loss to TCNJ. “We have a good group,’’ said Erin Monahan, one of the most successful coaches in the NJAC. “We have a lot of experience, Brianna Smith and Renee Wells being top scorers in the conference are our offensive leaders and two seniors, Victoria Palladino and Jade Martinez are our defensive leaders and are doing some very good things right now. We have been without a starter sophomore Mattison Chiera, who has started almost every game since being here and that has affected us in practice and games, but I think we are having some bench players step up as a result.’’ Wells averages 14.7 points and Smith 12.3. Patty Walsh grabs a team high 7.0 rebounds. One of the area’s Monahan would like to see the Pioneers improve from the last meeting is being able to finish. “We had the lead for almost 34 minutes but it was the fourth quarter that hurt us.,’’ said Monahan. The longtime coach would like to see them shoot better and get some help down the stretch from the bench. It was some poor shooting and a tough fourth quarter that spelled doom for TCNJ against New Jersey City. Branchizio leads the Lions with 13.4 points, Grace Kowalski gets 12.9 and has a team best 2.9 assists a game, Katie Fricker nets 10.3 points a game and has a team high 6.5 rebounds a game. Branchizio is the best in the conference in 3-point goals a game and Fricker leads the NJAC in free throw percentage. “They are a very talented, well rounded smart team,’’ said Monahan. “They work well together and don’t panic.’’