GLASSBORO, NJ  – The Rowan University women's basketball team won 91-71 over William Paterson University in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament on Saturday. 
 
The Profs (18-8) are the fourth seed in the conference tournament and they travel to the top seed Montclair State University (23-2) on Wednesday, Feb. 22 for a 7 p.m. semifinal game.  William Paterson, the fifth seed, has a 14-12 record.
 
Guard Alexis Kriley (fr. Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) scored a career-high 24 points.  Guard Anyssa Sanchez (sr. Pine Hill, NJ/Sterling) contributed with 23 points and six rebounds.  Forward Tamera Webster (so. Atco, NJ/Hammonton) posted a career mark with 10 points.  She also grabbed seven boards.  Guard Summer Crilley (jr. Galloway, NJ/Holy Spirit) pulled down 10 rebounds.  Guard Valerie Garofalo (sr. Ventnor, NJ/Holy Spirit) and guard/forward Alex Raring (jr. Linwood, NJ/Mainland Reg.) chipped in with nine and seven points respectively.
 
The Pioneers had four players that scored in double figures.  Guard Ashley Castillo (so. Ridgefield Park, NJ/Ridgefield Park) totaled 16 points and guard Julie Rovito (so. Ridgefield Park, NJ/Ridgefield Park) followed with 15.  Guard Gabby Harris (fr. South River, NJ/South River) registered 12 points and guard Ashley Palmieri (sr. Edison, NJ/Metuchen) had 11.  Forward Tori Woetzel (jr. Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) recorded a game-high 15 rebounds.
 
The Profs started the third quarter with a one-point deficit (33-32) and they outscored the Pioneers 32-13 for an 18-point advantage (64-46) at the end.  Rulon and Sanchez had back-to-back layups and Rowan took the lead 36-33 (9:34).  Sanchez's basket at 7:52 increased the margin to five (40-35). Rovito scored with a layup and William Paterson trailed 40-39 with 6:52 on the clock.  The Profs followed with a 16-2 run for a 15-point advantage (56-41) at 1:51.  Kriley scored seven points in the rally.  She produced 12 points in the third quarter.  Rowan's biggest lead of the game was 21 points, three times in the last quarter.  Kriley sank two free throws (4:13), which made the score 78-57.  The second time was at 3:43 (80-59) after a jumper by Kriley.  Webster hit a jump shot (0:32) and Rowan led 90-69.
 
There were three ties in the first quarter before the Profs took the lead for the remainder of the period.  Webster's basket knotted the score at six (5:55).  A 6-1 spurt then put Rowan ahead 12-7 at the 2:17 mark.  Guard Dominique Peters (fr. Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) scored four points and Crilley had two.  Peters hit a jump shot and the score was 14-9 (1:49).  Harris sank two foul shots to pull within two (16-14) with 1:10 remaining.  Kriley made a layup and the Profs had a four-point advantage (18-14) going into the second stanza.

Rowan scored 12 of the first 16 points to lead 30-18 at 4:11.  Four different players contributed in the run.  The Pioneers answered with a 13-1 surge and tied the score at 31 (1:00).  Castillo led the way with seven points and Rovito tallied six.  Palmieri's layup (0:12) gave William Paterson the lead (33-31) and Garofalo made a foul shot (0:05) to end the half.  The Profs trailed 33-32 at the intermission.