Box Score

Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey women's basketball team suffered an 81-70 setback to William Paterson University in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament semi-final game in Packer Hall on Tuesday night.

The loss eliminates the Lions (18-8) from the championship tournament, while the Pioneers (18-9) advance to the title game at Montclair State University on Friday night at 7 p.m.

WPU received an epic performance by senior Floriana Borova (Creskill, NJ/Creskill), who scored 48 points in the game. She connected on 16-of-29 shots and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line. It is the most points on record ever scored by a women's basketball player in Packer Hall, exceeding the 35-point mark posted by Hillary Klimowicz '09 on January 24, 2009.

Senior Tiffany DeTulio (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck), junior Kylie O'Donnell (Magnolia, NJ, Sterling) junior Kelly Coughlin (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull), and junior Jessica Goldbach (Edison, NJ/John P Stevens) each tallied 10 points for TCNJ. Senior Liz West (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Shore Regional) finished with a team-high six rebounds and five assists.

Senior Dana Jeter (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) came out hot for the Pioneers, hitting her first seven shots and scoring 15 of the first 21 points for WPU. They opened up a 24-16 lead when Borova drained a long 3-pointer with 10:24 remaining in the first half.

The Lions' offense was widespread in the opening half. Nine different players scored the first 23 points for TCNJ. Trailing by as many as 10 points, a short baseline jumper by senior Kelly Roddy (Belmar, NJ/St. Rose) off a West feed cut the deficit to five. But senior Kristine Jackiewicz (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) knocked down a long ball from six feet behind the arc to make it a 38-30 game.

A modest 6-0 run allowed the Lions to pull within two points. A reason they were able to keep the game close was they took care of the basketball, turning it over just four times in the half.

A Jeter free throw closed the period out with a 39-36 advantage for WPU. Jeter netted all of her 16 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Pioneers maintained command in the second half. Borova dropped in her sixth, three-point field goal of the game at the 13:42 mark to stretch the lead to 54-43. The Lions answered right back with consecutive baskets by O'Donnell, senior Colleen Duffy and West.

The senior guard from WPU, however, was relentless on offense. Borova scored 23 straight points for her team in under ten minutes and the Pioneer lead grew to 12.

TCNJ, however, refused to lie down. Couglin hit a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around baskets by Goldbach and senior Tiffany DeTulio (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) to cut the lead to two points. But the top-ranked offense in the NJAC demonstrated their potency with the basketball. An 8-0 run capped by a Brittany Harden (Millville, NJ/Sacred Heart) layup put the game out of reach with just over two minutes remaining.

The Lions will now await word from the NCAA selection in hopes of receiving an at-large bid to the championship tournament. The Pioneers will challenge the Red Hawks for the NJAC title on Friday night.