MADISON, N.J. – Senior all-Americans April Smith (Barnegat, N.J./Southern Regional) and BriAnna Lucas (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) each scored 20 points to lead the No. 8/9 William Paterson women's basketball team (18-1) to an 89-54 victory at Drew (6-12) Jan. 24.
Smith added 10 rebounds for her 15th double-double of the season, the top number in Division III. She added four steals and two blocked shots while connecting on nine of 14 (.643) field-goal attempts. Lucas was 8-for-13 (.615) from the field while collecting three assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) had 12 tallies and four assists, while sophomore guard Kristine Jackiewicz (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) posted nine points and sophomore forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) chipped in six points, seven boards and three assists.
The Pioneers used outstanding shooting, making 36 of 74 (.486) shots overall and seven of 15 (.467) from three-point range. WP forced twice as many turnovers as it committed (26-13), turning it into a 27-9 edge in points, and out-scored the Rangers 46-16 in the paint while limiting Drew to a 35.2 (19-54) field-goal percentage.
After steadily building a 24-17 lead 11 minutes into the contest, William Paterson engineered a 26-11 run to take a 50-28 lead into the break. That advantage grew to 30 less than five minutes into the second period (65-35, 15:21).
Danielle Barber led the Rangers with 19 points, and Jennifer Mateo and Logan Cavanaugh each tallied 12.
William Paterson will return to league action Saturday, Jan. 28, at Rowan at 1:00 p.m.