WAYNE, N.J. – No. 8/9 William Paterson (20-1, 9-1 NJAC) fought back from a late seven-point deficit to register a 58-53 women's basketball victory against Montclair State (15-7, 5-5 NJAC) Feb. 1. With the win, the Pioneers posted their fifth 20-win total in the last six years, and their 11th 20-win season in program history.
Trailing 47-40 with 7:07 to play, senior all-American April Smith (Barnegat, N.J./Southern Regional) started the rally with an old-fashioned three-point play (47-43, 5:28). Following a Taylor Jeffers bucket that pushed MSU ahead by a 49-43 count 10 seconds later, senior all-American BriAnna Lucas (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) converted a layup and sophomore guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) drained a three-pointer to get WP to within one at 49-48 with 3:39 remaining.
Jenny Malone's two free throws again made it a three-point margin (51-48, 2:37). Lucas banked a six-footer off the glass with 2:01 on the clock, and Smith converted from the left block during the Pioneers' next possession, handing William Paterson its first lead in 12 minutes at 52-51 with 1:04 to play.
Smith rebounded a miss by Borova from beyond the arc and was fouled, and she made both attempts (54-51, 37.5). Melissa Tobie's layup made it a one-point game at 54-53 with 37.5 seconds remaining, but Lucas controlled the ball until she was fouled. The league's leading free-throw shooter sank both from the charity stripe (56-53, 27.7), and Smith blocked Malone and collected the loose ball during the Red Hawks' next series. Borova put the game away with her 2-for-2 trip to the free-throw line with 12.4 seconds to play.
The Division III leader in double-doubles (17), Smith finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) had 11 tallies and eight boards, and Lucas contributed eight points.
Tobie led MSU with 18 points and nine rebounds, adding five blocks. Theresa Towns chipped in 10 tallies and four assists.
Ten lead changes and six ties marked an opening 20 minutes that saw Montclair State shoot 57.1 (12-21) percent from the floor and take a 29-28 lead into the locker room. WP was able to keep it close, despite making just 11 of 36 (.306) from the field, because they were on the positive end of a 14-2 turnover differential.
William Paterson will play at Ramapo Saturday, Feb. 4, at 1:00 p.m.