CAMDEN, N.J. (Feb. 10, 2024) – The William Paterson University women's basketball team went on a 15-4 first-quarter run to break a 3-3 tie and defeated Rutgers University-Camden, 76-61, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.
 
Before the game, the Scarlet Raptors recognized guard Rahzirah Blocker for reaching the 1,000 point milestone on Jan. 17 and honored guard Jania Pitts in a Senior Day celebration.
 
Rutgers-Camden's fourth straight loss dropped the Scarlet Raptors to 1-23 overall and 1-16 in the conference. Paterson, meanwhile, improved to 10-14 overall and 8-9 with its fifth straight win.
 
The Pioneers lead the all-time series, 59-15.
 
After the Pioneers scored an opening three-pointer and Pitts countered with a trey of her own, Paterson took the lead for good on a layup by sophomore forward/center Patricia Walsh. That sparked a seven-point Paterson run and the visitors led, 20-9 after one quarter. The score was 43-22 by halftime and Paterson led by as many as 28 points (56-28 and 58-30) in the second half.
 
Sophomore forward Renee Wells paced the Pioneers with 20 points, while senior guard Brianna Smith netted 13, junior guard Jade Martinez canned 11 and Walsh added 10. Freshman forward/center Menna Hafiz collected a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Blocker and sophomore forward Taja Brown both scored 17 points for Rutgers-Camden, with Brown setting her Raptor career high and Blocker vaulting over the 1,100 plateau to push her career total to 1,108. Freshman forward A'yanna Morton added 10 points and Pitts canned nine.
 
Brown and Blocker also added eight rebounds apiece to lead the Scarlet Raptors. Freshman guard Maniya Simon had a game-high four assists, tied Morton and Paterson's Mattison Chiera with a game-high three steals and added eight points.
 
William Paterson held a 36-35 edge off the boards and shot 28-for-63 (44.4 percent) from the floor and 14-for-17 (82.4) from the foul line.
 
Rutgers-Camden shot 23-for-56 (41.1) from the floor and 9-for-15 (60.0) from the line.
 
Rutgers-Camden closes its season Wednesday night when it hosts Ramapo College in a 6 p.m. NJAC game.