WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – No. 8/8 William Paterson (26-3) couldn't hold off a late surge by King's, Pa. (24-5), suffering a 64-63 loss in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament March 3.
The Pioneers led by as many as 15 in the second half (57-45, 8:52) and had a 10-point advantage, 63-53, with just 2:30 remaining in the game before King's came storming back. William Paterson's last basket came at the 4:09 mark before missing its final five shots of the game, including a free throw.
King's hit three consecutive shots from beyond the arc to pull within one (63-62, 1:05), and a Kaitlin Michaels layup with 42 seconds to play handed the home team a 64-63 lead, its only advantage of the second half. An offensive foul by the Pioneers gave the ball back to the Lady Monarchs, who missed with five seconds to play, but a final attempt by honorable-mention all-league sophomore guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) was no good as the clock struck 0:00.
Two Pioneers registered double-doubles. The NJAC Player of the Year, senior forward April Smith (Barnegat, N.J./Southern Regional) posted 17 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) with 15 tallies and a game-best14 boards. Junior guard Lindsey Callander (Branchburg, N.J./Somerville) was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc for 13 points, and Borova posted 10 points, eight boards and four assists. Senior all-American guard and NJAC Defensive Player of the Year BriAnna Lucas (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) chipped in seven assists and three steals.
King's was led by 27 points from Celia Rader and 14 tallies from Michaels.
WP erased an early 14-6 Monarch lead with a 9-0 run (15-14, 10:31), and a Borova trey and a Callander layup during the final 18 seconds allowed William Paterson to enter the locker room with a 34-27 advantage.
The Pioneers were better from the floor (.410, 25-61) than King's (.354, 23-65) and out-rebounded the Lady Monarchs 49-35, but an 18-11 differential in turnovers allowed King's to build an 18-5 scoring advantage off the miscues.