Box Score CAMDEN, N.J. – The William Paterson University women's basketball team rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit, after it had lost an 11-point halftime lead, and outlasted Rutgers University-Camden, 57-56, in a wild New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.
The Pioneers improve to 11-7 overall and 7-4 in the NJAC with their 18th consecutive win over the Scarlet Raptors. This one didn't come easily for Paterson, which leads the all-time series, 49-9.
The loss broke the Scarlet Raptors' three-game conference winning streak, dropping Rutgers-Camden to 7-11 overall and 3-8 in the NJAC.
Down, 29-18, at halftime, the Scarlet Raptors scored 16 of the first 21 points in the second half to tie the game at 34-34. The run was paced by junior guard
Kamari Talley (Camden, NJ/Creative Arts), who scored seven points, and senior center
Tanjae Lewis (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling), who added five.
After the Pioneers regained a three-point lead at 39-36, Rutgers-Camden went on a 13-2 run to open up a 49-41 advantage. Senior guard
Alex Gravinese (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) had five points in that run.
William Paterson, however, finished off the game with a 16-7 run to pull out the victory. The Pioneers Junior guard
Brittany Harden (Millville, NJ/Sacred Heart) and junior forward
Alex Milne (Howell, NJ/Howell) both had six points down the stretch.
A pair of foul shots by senior forward
Ashley Marfo (Bergenfield, NJ/Bergenfield) put the Pioneers ahead, 55-54, with 1:54 remaining and Milne followed with a layup to give the visitors a three-point advantage.
Gravinese sliced the gap to 57-56 with a pair of foul shots with 33 seconds remaining and after a pair of missed shots by the Pioneers, Raptor senior guard/forward
Irene Grimanis (Brooklawn, NJ/Gloucester) grabbed the rebound and the Raptors called timeout with 1.9 seconds remaining.
The Scarlet Raptors tried to inbound the shot to launch a desperation three-pointer, but a long-range shot by Lewis was off the mark and Harden grabbed the rebound as time expired.
Milne finished with a game-high 20 points for the Pioneers, while Harden had a double-double of 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. She also tied for game-high honors with five steals. Marfo, meanwhile, notched 10 rebounds for Paterson, which held a 54-45 advantage off the boards.
Paterson shot only 29 percent (20-for-69) from the floor for the game, while Rutgers-Camden was 19-for-64 (29.7). The Raptors had two more turnovers, 21-19.
Lewis collected a double-double for Rutgers-Camden, her fifth of the season, with 16 points and 12 boards. Gravinese led the Scarlet Raptors with 17 points, including three treys as she hiked her career total of three-pointers to 145. She is third on the program's all-time list, only one behind Megan Crank (1992-96) and two behind program record-holder Maureen McGovern (1994-99).
Talley finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and a game-high four assists. Both Talley and freshman guard
Cara Racobaldo (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) tied the Pioneers' Harden for game-high honors with five steals.
Both teams play NJAC opponents in their next games on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Paterson is at New Jersey City University and Rutgers-Camden entertains Rowan University.
