WAYNE, N.J. – Second-seeded William Paterson (20-6) punched its ticket to the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Women's Basketball Tournament championship game with a 55-39 semifinal victory against third-seeded The College of New Jersey (18-9) Feb. 20.
The Pioneers advance to play at top-seeded Montclair State Saturday, Feb. 23. The game time for the final has not yet been announced.
Neither team could get much going offensively during the first 20 minutes as WP and TCNJ combined to shoot 10-for-65 (.154) from the field, including a 2-for-23 (.087) effort from behind the three-point arc. The Lions scored six of the game's first nine points, but then didn't add to that total for more than 12 minutes, and didn't convert a field goal for a 14:28 span. However, the Pioneers did not gain much of an advantage during the drought, only scoring 17 points of their own during the span to pull ahead by a 20-7 count with 2:27 on the clock. William Paterson carried a 20-12 lead into the locker room, led by second-team all-NJAC forward Dana Jeter's (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) nine points and nine rebounds.
WP took total control of the game with a 15-4 run midway through the second period, extending a 36-19 edge with 14:06 left into a 51-23 lead at the 6:58 mark. The Pioneers shot an improved 46.4 (13-28) percent from the floor following halftime, making seven of 11 (.636) from three-point range, and dominated the glass by a 61-37 count overall.
Jeter finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for her seventh double-double of the season. First-team all-NJAC junior guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) scored nine of her 14 points during the second half, adding nine rebounds and four assists. Sophomore forward Ashley Marfo (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield) pulled down a game-best 13 rebounds, freshman guard Shakira Negron (Paterson, N.J./Immaculate Conception) had nine tallies and seven boards, and junior guard Kristine Jackiewicz (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) chipped in six points and nine rebounds.
Junior Tiffany DeTulio was the only Lion in double figures with 17 points. Classmate Kelly Roddy finished with seven tallies and six rebounds.
The winners of the last two NJAC Tournament titles (2011, 2012), William Paterson will make its 13th championship-game appearance in program history and its fourth straight trip to the final. With the victory against TCNJ, the Pioneers registered their 12th 20-win season in school history.
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