WAYNE. N.J. (Dec. 7, 2019) – The William Paterson University women's basketball team scored all 14 points of the second quarter to take the lead for good and went on to outlast a spirited Rutgers University-Camden rally to post a 54-49 win in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.
The Pioneers improve to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the NJAC, while the Scarlet Raptors fall to 5-3 and 0-3.
Paterson leads the all-time series, 54-13.
Behind six points from freshman guard/forward
Jalissa Pitts, the Scarlet Raptors established an 18-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, however, Rutgers-Camden went 0-for-11 from the floor, including 0-for-9 from three-point range, and committed nine turnovers as Paterson surged into the lead for good. The Pioneers took their first lead of the game at 20-18 on a pair of foul shots by junior guard Brianna Brooks and opened that margin up to 28-18 by the end of the first half.
Paterson added the first two points of the third quarter before Pitts hit a pair of free throws to end the 16-point Pioneer run. Rutgers-Camden rallied to cut gap to 37-32 in the third quarter before the Pioneers took a 42-36 advantage into the final frame.
The Scarlet Raptors went on a 7-3 run in the first 3:16 of the opening quarter, cutting the gap to 45-43 on a layup by sophomore guard/forward
Tamara Johnson. The Pioneers, however, countered with a 7-2 run to hike their advantage back to 52-45 with 3:24 remaining.
Once again, the Scarlet Raptors surged back into the game, aided by two free throws and a layup by Pitts, making it a 52-49 game with 1:27 remaining. Down the stretch, however, the Raptors missed a pair of foul shots and a three-point attempt, and William Paterson tacked on a pair of foul shots over the last 19 seconds to clinch the victory.
Freshman forward Allison McBride paced the Pioneers with 11 points, while adding eight rebounds. Junior guard Jykayla Elting notched nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds as the Pioneers dominated the boards, 52-34.
Pitts led the Scarlet Raptors with a game-high 16 points, while freshman center
Kayla Newton added 10 points. Pitts and senior guard
Fatimah Williams notched seven rebounds apiece to lead the Scarlet Raptors.
Rutgers-Camden shot only 17-for-59 (28.8 percent) from the floor, including 4-for-27 (14.8) from three-point range. The Raptors also were 11-for-21 (52.4) from the foul line.
Paterson shot 19-for-52 (36.5) from the floor and 13-for-28 (46.4) from the line.
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Saturday, Dec. 14, with a 1 p.m. NJAC home game against Kean University. It will be Rutgers-Camden's final game of the 2019 calendar year.
