NEWARK, N.J. – The William Paterson women's basketball team (15-6, 9-4 NJAC) held off a late Scarlet Raider rally to escape with a 54-53 victory at Rutgers-Newark (14-7, 8-5 NJAC) Jan. 30.

Ahead by a 51-38 count with 8:10 remaining, the Pioneers went cold, missing their next five shots from the field and turning the ball over five times to allow Rutgers-Newark to put together a 10-1 run and make it a 52-48 game with 2:51 remaining.  Sophomore forward Ashley Marfo's (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield) steal allowed freshman guard Shakira Negron (Paterson, N.J./Immaculate Conception) to convert a fast-break layup (54-48, 2:22), and the Scarlet Raiders answered with a bucket 24 seconds later.

After two WP misses, ShaQuanna Marshall's pair of free throws pulled Rutgers-Newark within two at 54-52 with 1:03 to play.  When the Raiders rebounded another Pioneer miss, Sharee Gordon was fouled and made the second of two from the charity stripe (54-53, 0:32).  With time winding down, Rutgers-Newark fouled junior forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert), but she could not find the range with either free-throw attempt with seven seconds left.  Marshall's three-point attempt at the buzzer was no good, giving William Paterson the one-point win.

Junior guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) had 15 points, six rebounds, and game bests of seven assists and six steals.  Negron contributed 12 tallies off the bench on 6-for-10 (.600) shooting, and Marfo finished with 11 points and five boards.

Marshall led all scorers with 20 points, Gordon had 11 tallies and 10 rebounds, and Jewell Palmer finished with 10 points and 10 boards.

WP jumped out to a 34-13 halftime lead and owned a 23-point advantage (38-15, 17:50) early in the second half.

William Paterson will host New Jersey City Saturday, Feb. 2, at 3:00 p.m.

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