EWING, N.J. – William Paterson (12-11, 9-7 NJAC) locked up a spot in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Women's Basketball Tournament despite a 64-56 loss at The College of New Jersey (18-5, 13-3 NJAC) Feb. 7.
 
With two regular-season games remaining, the Pioneers are in sixth place in the league standings. The top six teams qualify, with the first two seeds earning byes and the third and fourth seeds hosting the fifth and sixth seeds for first-round games on Saturday, Feb. 17.
 
WP enjoyed a 17-15 edge after the first quarter but struggled during the second as the Lions outscored the Pioneers by an 18-6 clip to carry a 33-23 advantage into the halftime break. William Paterson recovered from its 3-for-13 (.231) shooting effort during the second period to make eight of 15 (.533) field-goal attempts during the third, but could only make up two points of the deficit, and played The College of New Jersey to a 14-14 scoring deadlock during the fourth and final period.
 
Junior guard Ashley Castillo (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) matched her career high with six assists while scoring a team-best 16 points. Senior forward Tori Woetzel (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) finished with 13 tallies, five rebounds and three blocked shots, and junior guard Julie Rovito (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) added 10 points and four assists. Junior guard CeCe Green (Boonton, N.J./Boonton) and freshman forward Vianca Soriano (New Milford, N.J./New Milford) each collected six rebounds.
 
Sophomore forward Jen Byrne led TCNJ with 16 points and seven rebounds. Senior forward Nikki Schott chipped in 15 tallies.
 
William Paterson will celebrate Senior Day Saturday, Feb. 10, when the Pioneers host Rutgers-Camden at 3:00 p.m.
 
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