WAYNE, N.J. – The William Paterson women's basketball team (5-5) pulled away early, handing Staten Island (7-3) an 80-65 loss Dec. 21.

The Pioneers opened up a quick 10-0 lead behind five points from sophomore guard Sihana Asani (Lincoln Park, N.J./Boonton) during the game's first 76 seconds, and five straight points off the hand of junior forward Tori Woetzel (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) made it an 18-3 margin with 5:59 left in the first quarter. WP finished the first period with a 26-12 edge after shooting 4-for-6 (.667) from three-point range.

William Paterson extended its lead to as many as 21 (39-18, 4:52) during the second quarter before a 12-2 Dolphin run cut it to 11 at 41-30 with 2:08 on the clock. The Pioneers answered with a Woetzel jumper in the lane and an Asani trey, eventually entering the locker room with a 48-32 advantage. Asani led all first-half scorers with 14 points, while Woetzel added 11.

CSI never got closer than 13 points during the game's final 20 minutes as WP finished with a .492 (32-65) field-goal percentage and 60.0 (9-15) percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Asani led all scorers with a career-best 19 points, adding five rebounds while making five of seven (.714) three-pointers. Woetzel collected 15 tallies, three assists and three steals, and sophomore guard Ashley Castillo (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) was 5-for-5 from the floor for 12 points. Freshman guard/forward Alliera McCoy (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) added seven rebounds to her career-high 10 tallies, and freshman guard Kristina Ulrich (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) paced the Pioneers with eight rebounds.

Junior guard Christina Pasaturo led CSI with 20 points and 10 steals, adding eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Angelique Price chipped in 18 tallies.

William Paterson will enjoy a break for the holidays, returning to action Wednesday, Dec. 28, against Rosemont at 7:00 p.m. in the first round of Lycoming's Hoops for Hounds Classic.

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