Women's Basketball Drops 76-62 Decison to William Paterson
BETHLEHEM, Penn. – The William Paterson University women’s basketball team rallied for a 76-62 victory against Bridgewater State College in the first round of the 8th Annual STARTERS Moravian Winter Classic.
BETHLEHEM, Penn. -- The William Paterson University women's basketball team rallied for a 76-62 victory against Bridgewater State College in the first round of the 8th Annual STARTERS Moravian Winter Classic.
Freshman BriAnna Lucas (Hamilton, NJ) posted a game-high 22 points and five steals and junior guard Julie Haledjian (Montvale, NJ) had 19 points and five assists to lead William Paterson.
The Pioneers (9-3) will face host Moravian, a 67-63 winner
against Frostburg State in the other first-round contest, in the
tournament championship game on Saturday at 3 PM. Bridgewater (5-4)
will take on Frostburg in the consolation game at 1.
Bridgewater State led by as many as six points during a first half
that saw six lead changes, and owned a 36-33 edge at the break. The
Pioneers took the lead for good following a Haledjian three-pointer
at the 15:17 mark of the second period (42-40), a basket that
started a 13-2 William Paterson run that resulted in a double-digit
lead (52-42, 11:46). Bridgewater would later cut the advantage to
three (54-51, 7:56), but WP immediately responded with an 11-4
spurt (65-55, 4:07) to re-establish control of the game.
Junior forward Jonnelle Rodriguez (Elizabeth, NJ)
scored a career-best 12 points to go along with seven rebounds for
the Pioneers, while classmate Elisa Brown
(Norwalk, CT) chipped in eight points and five steals.
Freshman forward Shelly DePina (New Bedford, MA) came off the bench to lead three Bears in double figures with 14 points. DePina also pulled down six rebounds and recorded a pair of steals. Freshman guard Stephanie Houtman (New Bedford, MA) came off the bench as well to post 13 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Sophomore guard Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) chipped in with 13 points as she connected on 4 of 9 three-point attempts.
After Bridgewater shot 48% (11-for-23) from the floor in the first half, William Paterson held the Bears to just 31% (8-for-26) shooting in the final stanza. BSC also turned the ball over 31 times in the game thanks in large part to 21 Pioneer steals.