GALLOWAY, N.J. – Freshman guards Jackie Rodriguez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) and Julie Rovito (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) combined for 29 points but the William Paterson women's basketball team (5-3, 3-1 NJAC) suffered its first conference loss, 65-61, at Richard Stockton (4-2, 2-1 NJAC) Dec. 6.

The Ospreys jumped out to a quick 17-7 lead less than eight minutes into the contest, but 16 unanswered Pioneer points allowed WP to open up a 23-17 advantage with 4:36 left in the opening period. William Paterson entered the locker room with a narrow 29-27 edge, thanks in part to a 30-21 rebounding margin.

A 20-8 run early in the second half gave Stockton its largest lead of the game at 52-39 with 10:34 to play, but the Pioneers put together a rally, pulling to within two at 60-58 on a Maya Harris (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) layup at the 1:59 mark.

A miss and turnover led to a Stockton bucket (62-58, 1:36), and a WP turnover and foul allowed the Ospreys to add again to their lead with a 1-for-2 effort at the free-throw line (63-58, 0:59). William Paterson came away empty after three tries on their offensive end, but after a Stockton turnover Rodriguez drained a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game (63-61, 0:42).

Jazmin Palma made a free throw with 23 seconds left, nudging the Ospreys ahead by a 64-61 count, and a WP turnover and steal put Lauren Alwan at the line, where she made one of two attempts with eight seconds remaining (65-61). A miss during the final second ended the Pioneers' comeback hopes.

Rodriguez scored a game-best 19 points, and Rovito added 10 tallies. Senior forward Ashley Marfo (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield) posted seven points and a team-high nine rebounds and four steals.

Senior forward Sara Farrell led the Ospreys with 15 points, senior guard Alex Nardoza had 12 tallies and four assists, and freshman forward Sasha Williams contributed seven points, nine rebounds, 10 blocked shots and three steals.

William Paterson will host No. 7/9 Montclair State Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 6:00 p.m.

For all of the latest information on the Pioneers, visit http://www.wpupioneers.com, http://twitter.com/wpupioneers, http://www.instagram.com/thewpupioneers, http://www.facebook.com/wpupioneers and http://www.youtube.com/thewpupioneers.