Box Score
WAYNE, N.J. – No. 7/8 William Paterson (24-1, 12-1 NJAC) celebrated Senior Night with an easy 86-40 victory against New Jersey City (7-18, 3-10 NJAC) in the regular-season finale for both schools Feb. 17. Prior to the contest, the Pioneers honored their four seniors --
Elisa Brown (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk),
Erin Cook (Princeton, N.J./Princeton),
Julie Haledjian (Montvale, N.J./Pascack Hills) and
Stephanie Summers (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City).
The Pioneers, the top seed in the North Division, now await their opponent for a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament semifinal game to be played at WP Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7:00 p.m. William Paterson will host the winner of a first-round game between No. 3 North seed Ramapo and No. South seed Rowan to be played Saturday, Feb. 20, in Glassboro.
William Paterson stormed out to a 21-3 lead midway through the opening half as the Pioneers held the Gothic Knights to 1-for-11 shooting and four turnovers to start the contest. The Pioneers owned a 41-20 advantage by the break, led by Brown's 11 first-half points.
It was more of the same for William Paterson during the second half as the Pioneers' lead ballooned to as many as 48 (84-36, 3:03). WP made up for a lackluster shooting night (25-73, .342) by dominating the boards, 69-29, and second-chance points, 24-3. The Pioneer defense held the Gothic Knights to 21.2 (11-52) percent shooting from the floor and forced 20 Gothic Knight turnovers.
Haledjian led all scorers with 22 points, adding three assists, while sophomore
BriAnna Lucas (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) had 15 tallies and three steals. Cook posted eight points and 12 boards, Summers added eight tallies to her career-best 16 rebounds, and Brown chipped in 11 points and a team-best four assists. Junior
Absatu Mustapha (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) contributed nine points and seven rebounds off the bench as the Pioneers notched their 10th straight win.
Freshman guard Latifah Johnson had 21 points, four assists and four steals to lead NJCU. The current NJAC Player of the Week, sophomore Ebony Cunningham was held scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting.
