ECAC Tournament Central

DANBURY, Conn. – The third-seeded William Paterson women's basketball team (15-11, 10-8 NJAC) will welcome sixth-seeded John Jay (18-9, 11-3 CUNYAC) to the Sports and Recreation Center on Wednesday, March 1, for an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament first round matchup slated for 7:00 p.m.

WP students with ID will be admitted for free, courtesy of the Division of Student Development. The first 100 WP students with ID will receive a free orange t-shirt, courtesy of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation. 

TICKETS

• Ticket for the game are $5.00 for adults; $2.00 for children, visiting students, and senior citizens.

HOW TO CATCH THE ACTION

• Live statistics and live video coverage will be available

 
WHERE

• Sports and Recreation Center; Wayne, N.J.

 
WHAT'S AT STAKE

• The winner of the matchup between William Paterson and John Jay will advance to the semifinals Saturday, March 4, at Ramapo College against the winner of the game between second-seeded New Jersey City and seventh-seeded Neumann. The two semifinal round winners will then face off in the championship game Sunday, March 5, at 1:00 p.m. at Ramapo.

 
WP IN THE ECAC TOURNAMENT

• The Pioneers are making their sixth appearance in the ECAC Tournament in program history and are seeking their third ECAC title after previously winning the championship in 1990 and 2018.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS

• William Paterson wrapped up the regular season with a 15-10 overall record and 10-8 mark in NJAC play before entering the NJAC Tournament as the fifth seed.
• The Pioneers dropped their Feb. 18 quarterfinal round match at The College of New Jersey, 61-56, with senior Justina Cabezas (Carlstadt, N.J./Becton Regional) scoring a game-high 22 points on 10-of-16 (.625) shooting to go with nine rebounds. Freshman Renee Wells (Leonardo, N.J./Middletown South) added 16 points in the scoring column opposite the Lions.
• Junior Brianna Smith (Hillsdale, N.J./Pascack Valley) was named All-NJAC Second Team and has paced the William Paterson scoring efforts this season with 15.2 points per game. The Hillsdale, N.J., native has knocked down a team-high 45 shots from beyond the arc to go with 66 assists.
• Cabezas, a two-time All-NJAC First-Team performer, has posted six double-doubles in her senior campaign while averaging 15.0 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per contest.
• Wells, the NJAC Rookie of the Year and six-time conference rookie of the week, is averaging 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest.

SCOUTING THE BLOODHOUNDS

• John Jay posted an 18-10 overall record and finished the 2022-23 campaign with the second best mark in the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) at 11-3.
• The Bloodhounds bested third-seeded Hunter in the semifinal round of the conference tournament, 61-56, on Feb. 22 before later falling to top-seeded Brooklyn in the championship game, 64-58.
• Senior Katie Healy is averaging a double-double on the year with 14.9 points and 12.1 rebounds per tilt while shooting 47 percent (158-of-336) from the field and dishing out a team-best 3.1 assists per outing. She has scored in double figures in 18 straight contests and has logged 16 double-doubles this season.
• Senior Bobbi Green averages 11.7 points and 7.5 boards per game with 16 double-digit scoring performances and six double-doubles.
• Junior Kamryn Hammond has buried a team-best 43 shots from long range and averages 11.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest.

 
THE LAST MEETING

• These two teams met earlier this season on Nov. 15 with the Pioneers securing a 66-48 home victory over the Bloodhounds. Senior Yakira Rosa (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) led William Paterson with a game-high 13 points to go with five rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a pair of steals. Smith recorded 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Wells added 11 points.

 
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS

• http://www.wpupioneers.com/socialmedia