Box Score
UNION, N.J. – In a re-match of last year's New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Women's Basketball Tournament final, it was William Paterson (6-2, 1-0 NJAC) that came out on top, earning an 82-79 upset victory at No. 7/5 Kean (5-1, 0-1 NJAC) Dec. 8.
The last time the two teams met, Kean's Melissa Beyruti drained a three-pointer as time expired to give the Cougars a 62-59 win on the Pioneers' home court to earn the conference title. This time, Beyruti's desperation attempt at the buzzer was well off the mark, and the Pioneers secured the victory in the NJAC opener for both schools.
Kean opened up a 7-2 lead during the game's first 3:23, but William Paterson put together a 12-4 run, capped by a Christina Longo (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) three, to pull ahead 14-11 with 13:12 remaining. The Cougars responded, this time jumping ahead by six (28-22, 7:16), but the Pioneers scored six of the final nine points of the first half, and entered the locker room with a 40-37 advantage.
William Paterson emerged from the intermission firing, leading by 10 (49-39) three minutes into the second half, but Kean whittled away at that lead during the next nine minutes, taking its first lead of the second half following a Tiffany Patrick layup (58-57, 8:18). The two teams exchanged the lead nine times, and deadlocked the score on four occasions, until senior Michelle Pellichero (Milltown, N.J./Bishop Ahr) pumped in eight straight points, converting a layup and back-to-back three-pointers, for a 79-73 edge (1:56). Pellichero later made three of four free-throw attempts, making it an 82-77 score with 8.1 seconds to play, before Patrick scored a layup with 2.9 seconds on the clock. WP could not successfully inbound the ball, giving Kean one last chance to tie the score, but Beyruti's off-balance attempt from the right corner never reached the rim as the final horn sounded.
Pellichero scored 17 of her game-high 25 points in the second half, and made six of 11 (.545) attempts from beyond the arc during the contest. Sophomore Julie Haledjian (Montvale, N.J./Pascack Hills) had 14 points, five assists and four steals, senior Lori Custis (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) chipped in 14 tallies and seven rebounds, and Longo added 10 points off the bench. The Pioneers shot 40.0 (24-60) percent from the field and 54.5 (12-22) percent from three-point range, while their defense turned 18 Kean turnovers into 24 points.
Ebony Jackson led the Cougars with 18 points and 10 assists. Pellichero helped limit Kean all-American Melissa Beyruti to 14 points on 4-of-18 (.222) shooting. The Cougars were ranked seventh by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today and fifth by d3hoops.com in this week's national polls.
William Paterson will return home to face the College of Staten Island Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7:00 p.m.
