ECAC Tournament Central

WAYNE, N.J. – The third-seeded William Paterson women's basketball team (16-11, 10-8 NJAC) will travel to Ramapo College this Saturday, March 4, to take on second-seeded New Jersey City (16-11, 14-4 NJAC) in the semifinal round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament slated for 6:00 p.m.

TICKETS

• Ticket for the game are $5.00 for adults; $2.00 for children, visiting students, and senior citizens. Ticket sales will begin one hour prior to the scheduled game time.

HOW TO CATCH THE ACTION

• Live statistics and live video coverage will be available

 
WHERE

• Bradley Center; Ramapo, N.J.

 
WHAT'S AT STAKE

• The winner of the matchup between William Paterson and New Jersey City will advance to the championship game on Sunday, March 5, at Ramapo College against the winner of the game between top-seeded Ramapo and fifth-seeded Alvernia at 2:00 p.m.

 
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 is coming off a 63-60 home victory over John Jay in the first round of the ECAC Tournament on March 1.
• In the win, the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Rookie of the Year, Renee Wells (Leonardo, N.J./Middletown South) paced the Pioneers with her second career double-double after scoring a team-high 19 points and reeling in a career-high 16 rebounds.
• Sophomore Victoria Palladino (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) recorded 14 points with four rebounds, while senior Justina Cabezas (Carlstadt, N.J./Becton Regional) added 11 in the scoring column.
• William Paterson improved to 13-4 on the year when scoring 60 or more points in a game.
• Junior Brianna Smith (Hillsdale, N.J./Pascack Valley), a second-team all-conference selection, leads the Pioneers in scoring with 14.9 points per game while making a team-best 46 shots from beyond the arc.

SCOUTING THE GOTHIC KNIGHTS

• New Jersey City, the 2022-23 NJAC regular season champions, went on the road and defeated seventh-seeded Neumann, 66-59, in the first round of the ECAC Tournament with four Gothic Knights scoring in double figures.
• The Gothic Knights have won seven of their last eight outings with the lone loss coming in the NJAC Tournament title game against Rowan on Feb. 25.
• Junior Damaris Rodriguez, the NJAC Player of the Year and the leading scorer in all of Division III women's basketball, scored 14 points in the road victory. She is averaging 24.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game while shooting the ball at a 41 percent clip (252-of-616) from the floor.
• Senior Jada Camacho is also averaging double-digit scoring on the year with 10.4 points per game to go with 4.2 boards per outing.
• Junior Jimmirah Johnson, who logged 14 points opposite Neumann in the first round, averaged 7.4 points per contest to pair with a team-best 5.9 rebounds per tilt.   

 
THE SEASON SERIES

• The Pioneers and Gothic Knights split the regular season series after each side picked up a win on its home court. William Paterson secured a 71-51 victory on Nov. 30 before New Jersey City earned a 74-62 win on Jan. 25.
• In the two games, Cabezas has averaged 22.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50 percent (19-of-38) from the field. Smith put up double figures in the scoring column in both outings opposite the Gothic Knights, averaging 12 points per game.

 
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS

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