MAHWAH, N.J. – The William Paterson women's basketball team (10-7, 5-5 NJAC) held off host Ramapo (7-10, 2-8 NJAC) down the stretch for a 59-53 victory Jan. 18.
Senior guard Nikole Williams (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) led the Pioneers with 15 points, going 11-for-14 (.786) from the free-throw line. Sophomore guard Julie Rovito (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) added nine tallies and three assists while matching her career best with 10 rebounds. Freshman guards Gabby Harris (South River, N.J./South River) and Kristina Ulrich (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) each scored eight points.
Trailing 27-22 at halftime, WP scored the first five points of the third quarter to tie the game (27-27, 8:36). Knotted at 33-33 less than three minutes later, the Pioneers scored five of the next six points (38-34, 4:42) and ended the period with a 46-44 edge.
William Paterson steadily built a 53-46 advantage by the 6:45 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Roadrunners responded with a 6-1 burst to get within two at 54-52 with 3:08 on the clock. Neither team scored again until 1:11 to play when Williams made the second of two free throws, followed by a 1-for-2 trip to the stripe by Ramapo's Kellie Lane with 54 seconds remaining,
A WP miss led to a Roadrunner offensive foul with 26 seconds left. Ramapo was forced to foul, and Williams made both to stretch it to a two-possession game (57-53, 0:24). Another Roadrunner miss and technical foul put Williams on the line and she made the first attempt (58-53, 0:15), and Ramapo's foul allowed Rovito to add the game's final point with 14 seconds on the clock.
Junior guard Jina Crawford collected 15 points for the Roadrunners, while sophomore forward Tia Solomon added 12 tallies and seven rebounds.
The Pioneers had just eight turnovers, and converted 21 Ramapo miscues into 24 points.
William Paterson returns to the Rec Center to face Rowan Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 1:00 p.m.
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