Box Score NEWARK, N.J. – Senior forward
Jade Howard and sophomore guard
Maria Simmons each netted 11 of their team-high 17 points as the Rutgers-Newark constructed a 37-25 halftime lead, but William Paterson stormed back in the second half for a 69-59 New Jersey Athletic Conference win in The Golden Dome Arena.
William Paterson junior guard Brittany Harden, who netted 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, tallied nine points as the Pioneers (9-5, NJAC 5-2) opened the second half with a 28-4 outburst. William Paterson never led in the game until junior forward Alex Milne hit a jumper with 14:04 left and a layup by Harden capped the rally with 10:29 remaining to boost the visitors into a 53-41 lead.
The Scarlet Raiders led by a dozen at the break with the help of 13 Pioneer turnovers. Simmons had five steals and junior guard
Arianna Williams, five, as Rutgers-Newark tallied 11 points off of turnovers in the period.
But William Paterson flipped the script in the second half by shooting 55.6% (15-27) from the floor while making 11 of 12 free throws. Harden, who made all 11 of her free throws, knocked down nine charity tosses in the second half.
Howard narrowly missed a her sixth double-double of the season by grabbing a team-high nine rebounds while Simmons notched eight steals in a game for the second time this season. Rutgers-Newark also got eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots from senior center
Sharee Gordon while Williams finished with nine points, four rebounds, a team-high four assists and three steals.
Harden added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals to her line as the Pioneers got a decisive 20 points from its bench. Freshman guard Jackie Rodriguez gunned in four of 10 shots from beyond the arc to finish with 15 points and five rebounds while Milne hauled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with nine points. Senior forward Ashley Marfo chipped in nine points for WPU with freshman guard contributing eight points and a game-high six assists.
After the Pioneers' surge to open the second half, the Raiders whittled their deficit to 58-53 on a free throw by Simmons with 5:58 left. But Harden made six consecutive free throws over the next minute and half before Marfo boosted the William Paterson lead to 67-53 with 3:40 on the clock. Rutgers-Newark got no closer than the final margin over the final minutes.
In the first half, Milne hit a free throw with 10:54 left in the half to cut William Paterson's deficit to 16-13 before the Raiders reeled off nine straight points to go up by a dozen. An inside bucket by sophomore center
Jasmine Lombard, a pair of free throws by Simmons, a 3-point jumper by Williams and follow shot by Howard made it 25-13 with 7:03 on the clock.
After Pioneers twice sliced their deficit to five points, Howard netted six points to fuel an 8-1 spurt over the final three minutes. Her driving layup down the right side of the lane gave Rutgers-Newark its second 12-point lead of the half.
Rodriguez came off the bench to nail two of five long range jumpers for WPU, but the visitors shot just 26.5% (9-34) from the floor and four for seven from the free throw line during the opening 20 minutes.
The decision broke a fourth-place tie the NJAC standings as the Raiders (8-6, NJAC 4-3) slipped into sole possession of fifth place.
Rutgers-Newark travels to Ramapo College on Wednesday for an NJAC doubleheader. The women's game tips off at 5:30 p.m. with the men to follow at 7:30.
