WAYNE, NJ – The Rowan University women's basketball team outlasted William Paterson University in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) action, 66-63 on Wednesday.
The Profs are now 6-4 on the season and 5-1 in conference play. The Pioneers drop to 4-6 and they have a 2-4 NJAC mark.
Guard
Grace Marshall (fr. Bellmawr, NJ/Haddon Twp.) led the way with 17 points and four steals, followed by guard
Alexis Kriley (so. Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) with 12 points, five rebounds and four steals. Guard
Dominique Peters (jr. Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) added 11 points on a perfect five of five shooting from the floor, while center
Ayanna Johnson (fr. Ewing, NJ/The Pennington School) contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
For the Pioneers, guard Julie Rovito (sr. Ridgefield Park, NJ/Ridgefield Park) scored a game-high 36 points and corralled eight rebounds. Forward Carolyn Hill (sr. Martinsburg, WV/Spring Mills) and guard CeCe Green (sr. Boonton, NJ/Boonton) added eight and seven points respectively.
Rowan opened the first quarter with a 10 point run to take a 10-2 advantage. Johnson started the spurt with a free throw, followed by a three from Marshall (6:41). Kriley hit a pair of free throws (6:24) and forward
Kailyn Sytsma (jr. Northvale, NJ/Northern Valley Old Tappan) sunk a layup (5:09). The last points of the run were a jumper by guard
Olivia Rulon (sr. Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic). The Brown and Gold added eight points to have an 18-11 advantage at the end of the quarter.
William Paterson knocked down back-to-back buckets to open the second and trailed, 18-16 (8:15). The Profs responded with two different five point streaks to pull away, 30-21 (1:18). Rowan closed out the first half with baskets from Johnson and Kriley to have a 10 point lead (34-24) going into halftime.
The Profs slipped in the third stanza, as William Paterson chipped away at its deficit to trail by two (43-41) (2:56). The Brown and Gold answered with an 8-1 run to increase its lead to 51-42. Forward
Jenna Hoffner (jr. Medford, NJ/Shawnee) converted a free throw (2:33), followed by a layup from Sytsma. Marshall added a pair of free throws (1:49), then Sytsma knocked down a jumper and Kriley scored a point from the free throw line (0:35).
Rowan ran into some trouble late in the final quarter, as the Pioneers cut the margin to one, 63-62 (0:25). Marshall answered with two points from the free throw line and Rulon scored one to hold onto the win.
Rowan heads back to Glassboro for its next contest where it faces Immaculata University on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 6 p.m.
