BRONX, N.Y. – The William Paterson women's basketball team (7-4, 3-2 NJAC) warded off a second-half run by Neumann (5-6, 0-0 Atlantic East) before securing a 61-53 victory on Dec. 28 at the Lehman Tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Pioneers built held a 12-point lead (44-32) with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter after junior Brianna Smith (Hillsdale, N.J./Pascack Valley) buried a 3-pointer. However, Neumann trimmed the deficit to four (50-46) following a 14-6 run in which the Knights shot 60 percent from the field.
• William Paterson built the advantage back to double figures (58-48) with an 8-2 run before securing the 61-53 victory.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Smith finished with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-10 (.600) shooting with three made 3-pointers.
• She added five rebounds, four assists and two steals to her stat line.
• Senior Justina Cabezas (Carlstadt, N.J./Becton Regional) logged 14 in the scoring column to go along with seven boards and six helpers, tying her career-best mark for assists.
• Freshman Renee Wells (Leonardo, N.J./Middletown South) tallied 10 points and seven rebounds.
• Sophomore Victoria Palladino (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) recorded a season-high nine points, career-high seven boards and three steals.

 
UP NEXT:

• The Pioneers will take on the winner of the game between Penn College and Lehman on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 2:00 p.m. in the Championship Game of the Lehman Tournament.

 
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