WAYNE, N.J. – Four players finished in double figures, but the effort was not enough for the William Paterson women's basketball team (4-2, 2-1 NJAC), which dropped its first NJAC contest of the season to Rowan (4-3, 2-1 NJAC), 99-79, Dec. 2.
 
Senior Tori Woetzel (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) led the Pioneers in scoring with 16 points on 7-of-9 (78 percent) shooting. Junior Ashley Castillo (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) chipped in 12 points, while classmates Sihana Asani (Lincoln Park, N.J./Boonton) and Julie Rovito (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) added 13 points apiece. Rovito had a solid all-around game, hauling in seven rebounds and dishing out seven assists to compliment her scoring efforts.
 
Rowan used a total team effort to earn the victory, as six players recorded double-digit scoring outputs. Alex Raring led the Profs in scoring with 22 points on 8-of-17 (47 percent) shooting.
 
The Pioneers came out strong to begin the contest, using a 15-5 spurt to close out the opening quarter to take a seven-point advantage (22-15) into the first break. Rowan had the response however, as they opened the second stanza on a 16-3 scoring run to take a six-point lead (31-25) with 4:13 remaining in the half. It was back and forth into halftime, with the Pioneers chipping away at the deficit to trail by three points (37-34) as they headed into the locker room.
 
After Rowan extended the lead to 11 points (49-38), the Pioneers scored nine unanswered points to get within two points, and eventually took the lead at the 5:38 mark of the third on a Castillo three-pointer to make it 53-51. A level scoring battle during the final five minutes of the period made it 65-62 Rowan at the final quarter break.
 
It was all Rowan during the fourth quarter, however. WP took their final lead at 66-65 when Castillo and Assani recorded buckets just over a minute into stanza, but Rowan eventually outscored the Pioneers, 34-17, to earn their second conference victory of the season.
 
The Orange and Black return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 6, when they host Montclair State in an NJAC battle beginning at 6:00 p.m.
 
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