UNION, N.J. – Despite a career-high 34 points from senior all-American forward April Smith (Barnegat, N.J./Southern Regional), the No. 5/6 William Paterson women's basketball team (15-1, 5-1 NJAC) suffered its first loss of the season, an 88-84 overtime decision at No. 23 Kean (15-2, 6-0 NJAC) Jan. 14.
Smith, who played as a freshman for the Cougars before transferring to WP, added 16 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the year, shooting 72.2 (13-18) percent from the field. Senior all-American guard BriAnna Lucas (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) posted 16 tallies, four assists and three steals, and sophomore guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) had 15 points while matching her career best with seven steals.
The Cougars scored 10 of the second half's first 14 points to take a 48-37 lead before William Paterson scored the game's next eight, including six from Smith, to pull back to within three (48-45, 14:55). A layup by Kyanne Sager pushed the margin back to seven for KU at 52-45 at the 13:34 mark, but the Pioneers would eventually use a 7-0 run to establish a 58-56 edge on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) with 8:17 remaining in regulation.
WP controlled the next three and half minutes of the game, building its largest lead of the contest at 60-55 on a layup by Jeter with 4:48 left. The Cougars answered right back, scoring five straight points as Danielle McFadden capped the run with another three-point play with 3:14 on the clock.
A pair of free throws by Smith gave William Paterson its final lead of the game (67-65, 2:30). Back-to-back layups by Naimah Clemons handed the Cougars a two-point edge at 69-67 with just 90 seconds remaining. Lucas drained a pair of free throws to tie the game at 69-69 with 66 seconds left, and Clemons and Lucas traded driving layups on each team's next possession for a 71-71 score with 48 seconds remaining.
Brittany Powell provided the Cougars with a two-point lead with a layup (73-71, 0:39), and after a Pioneer miss, she extended the lead to three points when she went 1-for-2 from the foul line with 14 seconds left. Borova forced overtime when she knocked down a long three-pointer from the right side with six seconds on the clock.
Powell opened overtime with a layup and the Pioneers knotted the score at 76-76 thanks to a Jewell Palmer (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge) bucket, but a jumper by Noel Mathis on Kean's next possession gave the Cougars the lead for good (78-76, 4:12). Smith went 1-for-2 at the stripe (78-77, 3:58) before the teams traded layups.
Powell scored four straight points (84-79, 2:06), and after Smith's layup made it a one-possession game at 84-81 with 1:37 on the clock, a pair of free throws by Powell extended the lead to 86-81 29 seconds later. Lucas nailed a three-pointer with 41 seconds left to pull William Paterson to within two at 86-84, but McFadden was fouled, making one of two attempts (87-84, 0:10). The Pioneers had a chance to tie, but instead committed their 28th turnover of the day. Mathis put the game away with her 1-for-2 effort at the free-throw line during the game's final four seconds.
Powell paced the Cougars with 25 points. Clemons, the league's leading scorer who had missed the previous three games, chipped in 22 tallies and eight rebounds, while McFadden registered 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cougars used an 11-0 run during the early minutes of the game to quickly build a 15-4 lead with 13:34 remaining in the half. William Paterson exploded for 11 straight points during the next 2:35, with Smith scoring the final seven to tie the game at 15-15.
William Paterson took its first lead since scoring the opening basket when Palmer converted a layup (23-22, 8:15), and the two teams exchanged baskets before a jumper by Mathis gave the Cougars a 27-25 edge with 7:14 left. Kean once again extended the lead to double-digits (37-27, 4:02) before the Pioneers cut the lead in half to trail 38-33 at the break.
William Paterson will play at New Jersey City Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 6:00 p.m.