WAYNE, N.J. – Third-seeded William Paterson (17-9, 13-5 NJAC) fought off sixth-seeded Ramapo (12-14, 9-9 NJAC) for a 74-62 victory in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Women's Basketball Tournament Feb. 22 at the Rec Center. In the process, senior Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) became the Pioneers' career steals leader.

WP advances to play at second-seeded The College of New Jersey Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the semifinal round at 7:00 p.m. The highest overall remaining seed will host the championship game Friday, Feb. 28.

The Pioneers led by as many as seven (9-2) during the first four minutes of the contest, but a Kelly Haspel three-pointer and two Kerri Kosakowski free throws pulled the Roadrunners within two at the 15:03 mark, and back-to-back treys by Jackie Jerkovich and Anna Fucci later pushed Ramapo ahead, 18-13, with 10:09 on the clock.

WP answered with two straight three-balls by Borova and senior forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert), and Borova followed with a 2-for-2 trip to the free-throw line to hand William Paterson a 21-18 edge with 8:00 left in the half.

When the Roadrunners closed to within two (24-22, 4:58), WP scored eight of the final 11 points of the period to make it a 32-25 halftime score.

Ramapo scored the first four points after the intermission, but a foul as the shot clock was expiring put Borova on the charity stripe, and she drained all three free throws to make it a 35-29 game with 18:33 to play.

The Roadrunners again made it a one-possession contest twice during the next three minutes, but two consecutive buckets by sophomore guard Brittany Harden (Millville, N.J./Sacred Heart) later helped to stretch it to an eight-point lead (49-41, 11:40). Ramapo never got closer than five (53-48, 7:54) for the rest of the game, and the final 12-point margin was just one shy of the Pioneers' largest lead of the day (64-51, 4:24).

Borova finished with game highs of 25 points, eight points and five steals, adding seven rebounds. She eclipsed the WP career steals record of 308 (BriAnna Lucas, 2008-12), finishing the contest with 310. Jeter had a double-double with 11 tallies and a game-best 14 boards, chipping in four steals and three assists. Harden scored 12 of her 17 points during the second period, and junior center Ashley Marfo (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield) added nine tallies and eight rebounds.

Senior forward Micaela Moore had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Roadrunners. Jerkovich finished with 18 tallies and Fucci had 14.

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