News Release

WAYNE, NJ — Head coach Erin Monahan earned her 250th career victory as the William Paterson women’s basketball team (14-2, 5-0 NJAC) survived a late challenge, defeating Ramapo (4-10, 0-4 NJAC) 66-62 Jan. 13 at the WPU Rec Center.

Trailing by one (61-62) with 3:05 to play, freshman Elisa Brown (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) converted a step-through layup in the lane, nudging the Pioneers ahead by one (63-62, 2:14). Junior Michelle Pellichero (Milltown, N.J./Bishop Ahr) forced a turnover on the next Roadrunner possession, and came away with a defensive rebound after a miss by Ramapo’s Malika Gilliam (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) with 52 seconds to play. Senior Luci Custis (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) was then fouled by the Roadrunners in order to stop the clock, but she made them pay, calmly converting both attempts (65-62, 0:41). Pellichero later made one of two from the charity stripe to ice the game (66-62, 0:18) and extend William Paterson’s winning streak to 12 games.

The victory was the 250th of Monahan’s 14-year career at her alma mater. She now owns a career slate of 250-115.

The two teams struggled to find their offensive rhythms in the first half, combining for 29 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. The Pioneers eventually built an eight-point lead (23-15, 6:13), but their shooting cooled to a 33.3 (4-12) percent clip during the final six minutes, and William Paterson led by just two (32-30) at the break. Ramapo twice led by as many as five in the second half, the last coming with 6:25 on the clock (52-57), but the Pioneers finished the game with a 14-5 spurt.

Custis led the Pioneers with 16 points and four assists. Pellichero and Brown each contributed 11 tallies, and were two of the five William Paterson players who registered three steals. Junior Lori Custis (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) led WPU on the boards with seven rebounds. Gilliam led the Roadrunners with 13 points, followed by Natasha Gross (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) with 10.

Although the Roadrunners owned a .422 (19-45) to .338 (22-65) advantage in field-goal percentage, the Pioneers caused 30 Ramapo turnovers and turned them into 28 points. The NJAC leader in offensive rebounds (20.93 pg), William Paterson outrebounded Ramapo 42-33, including a 26-11 edge offensively, and outscored the Roadrunners 20-7 on second-chance points.

The Pioneers will return to action Wednesday, Jan. 17, at Rutgers-Newark at 5:30 p.m.