With the victory, the Pioneers won the NJAC’s North Division title with an 11-2 league record, ahead of Montclair State (9-3) and the Scarlet Raiders (8-4). Rutgers-Newark will finish the regular season Feb. 17 against MSU, but the Red Hawks have already assured themselves of the second seed in the North due to the tiebreaker system, while the Scarlet Raiders will be the third and final seed in the North. Kean (10-2) has secured the top seed in the South, while Richard Stockton (8-4) will be second and The College of New Jersey (7-6) will be third, regardless of the outcomes of Saturday’s match-ups.
Even if Kean should match William Paterson’s 11-2 NJAC record, the Pioneers will be the overall top seed for the tournament, thanks to a 69-57 WPU victory against the Cougars Jan. 27. The NJAC Tournament will begin with first-round games (TCNJ at Montclair State, Rutgers-Newark at Stockton) Tuesday, Feb. 20. Divisional winners will receive a first-round bye, and will host semifinal contests Thursday, Feb. 22 (William Paterson vs. Stockton/Rutgers-Newark winner; Kean vs. TCNJ/Montclair State winner). The highest remaining seed will host the championship game Saturday, Feb. 24.
“We are very excited to get to this point,” said 14 th-year William Paterson head coach Erin Monahan. “It’s great to be able to establish that top position and know that we will be at home for the semifinals next week. To be able to seal it up at home, on Senior Night and with Luci breaking the steals record was tremendous. But, as exciting as all of that is, we are ready to put that in the past and focus on the NJAC Tournament.”
William Paterson started the game with a 14-4 run against the Scarlet Raiders on its way to a 29-20 halftime advantage. That lead eventually grew to 20 (48-28, 9:01) in the second half before the Pioneers began to reshuffle their lineup and use all of their available players.
Custis became the Pioneers’ all-time steals leader with 6:23 remaining in the contest, collecting her 266 th steal to surpass Katie Morris’ total of 265 (1999-2003). Custis added 10 points and three assists to her team bests of six rebounds and four steals. Junior Michelle Pellichero’s (Milltown, N.J./Bishop Ahr) led the Pioneers with 12 points, while senior Melissa Moore (East Orange, N.J./North Bergen) chipped in 10 tallies. Nerlande Nicolas (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) and Sabrina Sanchez (Keasbey, N.J./Woodbridge) each scored 11 points for the Scarlet Raiders.
Prior to the contest, William Paterson honored its five seniors – Custis, Lindsey Krenza (Bayville, N.J./Central Regional), Meghan Ludgate (Palermo, N.J./Ocean City), Moore and Alima Williams (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling Regional).