Box Score

WAYNE, N.J. – The top-seeded William Paterson women's basketball team (22-4) punched its ticket for the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament championship game, defeating Rutgers-Newark (16-10) 64-55 in the semifinals Feb. 22 at the WPU Rec Center.

The Pioneers will advance to play Kean, a 79-68 winner against The College of New Jersey in the other semifinal, in the championship game Saturday, Feb. 24, at 3:00 p.m. at William Paterson. At stake will be an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division III Tournament.

William Paterson built an early 8-2 lead as senior Melissa Moore (East Orange, N.J./North Bergen) scored five points in the first 3:33. Back-to-back buckets by Nerlande Nicolas cut that lead to one (8-7, 13:44), and the two teams found themselves tied at 13-13 with 9:51 to play in the first stanza.

A 10-2 run, capped by Julie Haledjian's (Montvale, N.J./Pascack Hills) three-pointer, gave William Paterson a 23-15 edge (4:28), but the Scarlet Raiders cut that eight-point advantage in half with consecutive scores by Stephanie Ross and Younger Kehleay. However, it would be the Pioneers who entered the locker room with the momentum, answering with a 9-3 spurt on their way to a 32-24 halftime lead.

The Scarlet Raiders shot 50.0 (9-18) percent from the field and 42.9 (3-7) percent from three-point range, compared to 11-of-26 (.423) shooting overall and a 4-for-8 (.500) effort from beyond the arc by WPU, during the first 20 minutes. But, as they have all season, the Pioneers turned 15 Rutgers-Newark turnovers into 14 tallies, and outscored the Scarlet Raiders 12-5 on second-chance points to build the eight-point edge at the break.

William Paterson owned a double-digit lead for most of the second half, withstanding a late defensive onslaught by Rutgers-Newark in order to secure the victory.

Junior Michelle Pellichero (Milltown, N.J./Bishop Ahr) shot 6-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc for her team-high 17 points. Moore tied her season best with 16 tallies, adding four rebounds and two assists while drawing three charges against the Scarlet Raiders. Senior Luci Custis (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark), the 2007 NJAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, chipped in 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals, while NJAC Rookie of the Year Elisa Brown (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) posted seven points and a game-best seven rebounds.

Nicolas led Rutgers-Newark with 18 points, while Sabrina Sanchez tacked on 13 points for the Scarlet Raiders.

The Pioneers will play in their ninth NJAC Tournament championship game (1990, 1992-94, 1996-98, 2004) and will look to win their second league title (1993) Feb. 24.

The first 200 William Paterson students with valid I.D. will be admitted to the Pioneers' game for free, courtesy of the Student Government Association. All other William Paterson students with I.D., as well as senior citizens and children 12 and under, will be admitted for $2.00. The general admission ticket price is $5.00.