News Release

WAYNE, NJ — Exploding out of the gates to score 22 of the game’s first 26 points, the William Paterson women’s basketball team (19-4, 9-2 NJAC) cruised to a 66-46 victory against New Jersey City (8-13, 3-8 NJAC) Feb. 7 at WPU’s Rec Center.

With the WPU victory against NJCU, coupled with losses by Rutgers-Newark against Ramapo and Richard Stockton at TCNJ, the Pioneers have regained the overall lead in the NJAC. William Paterson (9-2) is first in the North Division, followed by Rutgers-Newark (8-3), while Kean (8-2), which did not play this evening, leads the South Division and is a half-game ahead of Richard Stockton (8-3).

All five Pioneer starters scored during the game’s first 10 minutes, as William Paterson jumped out to an early 22-4 lead (10:10) on its way to a 36-25 advantage at the break. After the Gothic Knights scored the first bucket of the second stanza, making it a nine-point game, the Pioneers responded with four straight points, and their lead never dipped below double digits for the rest of the second stanza.

Senior Melissa Moore (East Orange, N.J./North Bergen) and junior Michelle Pellichero (Milltown, N.J./Bishop Ahr) led the Pioneer offense with 13 points apiece. Senior Luci Custis (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) added 11 tallies, while senior Meghan Ludgate (Palermo, N.J./Ocean City) led William Paterson in rebounding for the second straight game with her six caroms. Junior Arnese Goodman (Jersey City, N.J./Lincoln) paced NJCU with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Pioneers will play at Ramapo Saturday, Feb. 10, at 1:00 p.m. before finishing the regular season at home Wednesday, Feb. 14, against Rutgers-Newark at 6:00 p.m.