EWING, N.J. – The No. 18 William Paterson women's basketball team (2-2, 0-1 NJAC) held the lead with less than four minutes to play, but host The College of New Jersey (2-2, 1-0 NJAC) was able to come away with a 79-78 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) victory Nov. 23.
The Pioneers owned a 43-36 halftime advantage and expanded it to as many as 10 (56-46, 12:48) before a 10-0 Lion burst knotted the score at 56-56 with 10:12 remaining. Eight lead changes and two ties marked the next seven minutes, the last a three-pointer by senior guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) that made it a 73-71 WP edge with 3:29 on the clock.
TCNJ's Kelly Roddy matched it with a second-chance trey (74-73, 2:56), and after a Pioneer miss, Kelly Coughlin pushed the Lions ahead by three with her jumper (76-73, 2:12). Freshman forward Maya Harris (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) was sent to the line during William Paterson's next possession, making one of two (76-74, 1:54), and she tied it up with a layup 42 seconds later.
Coughlin drained a three-pointer to break the deadlock with 49 seconds remaining, and Borova was sent to the charity stripe eight seconds later, making both to pull the Pioneers to within one at 79-78. TCNJ was whistled for a shot-clock violation with 10 seconds to play, but WP turned it over during the final two seconds. An immediate foul put the Lions' Jessica Goldblach at the stripe, and she missed both, but the Pioneers could not get a shot off before time expired.
Borova was 10-for-21 (.476) from the field, 4-for-8 (.500) from beyond the arc and 8-for-9 (.889) from the free-throw line for her game-high 32 points. She added four assists, four steals and a team-best seven rebounds. Harris posted 15 tallies, making seven of 11 (.636) field-goal attempts, senior forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) finished with 11 points, six boards and four assists, and senior guard Kristine Jackiewicz (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) had 10 tallies.
Kylie O'Donnell led four Lions in double figures with 15 points. Coughlin chipped in 14 tallies.
WP shot 50.8 (30-59) percent from the floor and 50.0 (6-12) percent from deep while holding TCNJ to a .382 (26-68) field-goal percentage, but the Pioneers shot just 50.0 (12-24) percent from the free-throw line compared to the Lions' 19-for-25 (.760) effort.
William Paterson will play at No. 6/4 Montclair State Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 6:00 p.m.
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