Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey women's basketball team dropped a 67-62 decision to William Paterson University in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Wednesday night.
 
The Lions came out strong in their first game of 2017, but the Pioneers had the better of play in the second half to navigate a road victory in conference play. TCNJ fell to 5-7 overall and 2-4 in the NJAC, while WPU improved to 8-5 this season and 3-3 in the league.
 
Junior Charlotte Schum (East Hanover, NJ/Morris Catholic) led the Lions with 12 points and eight assists.
Rookie Christine Woods (River Edge, NJ/River Dell) finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, and junior Chiara Palombi (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan) added nine points and five rebounds.
 
The Lions rattled off their first 11 points of the game, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by Schum Following a 30-second timeout, the Pioneers got things rolling on offense. Freshman Gabby Harris scored eight of WPU's first 10 points, including a pair of 3s. TCNJ surged to another 10-3 run to finish the opening period. Nikki Schott (Washington, NJ/Wayne Hills), Kate O'Leary (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull), Schum, Woods, and sophomore Nicole Shatsky (Marlboro, NJ/Marlboro) all found the bottom of the net to give TCNJ a 25-10 lead.
 
The Pioneers responded with a big second quarter, outscoring the Lions by ten points. A 14-3 run in the first five minutes closed the gap to 28-24. TCNJ did shoot the ball well in the opening period, connecting on 15-of-28 shots to carry a 36-31 lead into halftime.
 
WPU continued its momentum after the break. They hit eight of their first 14 shots in the quarter. With 6:20 remaining in the third quarter, Pioneer guard Julie Rovito deposited a layup in transition to tie the contest for the first time since tip-off. Janae Clark followed with a bucket from underneath off a dish from Tori Woetzel and WPU had its first lead of the match. Both teams traded buckets over the final two minutes, and the Pioneers held a 50-47 advantage entering the final period.
 
A jumper by Palombi, followed by a three-pointer from classmate Cindy Napolitano (Wall, NJ/St. Rose) quickly erased the deficit. With 4:14 left in the game, however, WPU guard Kristina Ulrich knocked down a shot from long distance to put the Pioneers up 58-56.
 
A go-ahead jumper from the corner off the hand of Schott broke a 60-60 tie with under two minutes. But the Pioneers scored the final seven points of the contest. A free throw by Nikole Williams cut the lead in half before Harris scooped in a lay-up. A pair of free throws by Rovito put the Pioneers up by three with 20 seconds to play. Woetzel came up with a big block on an attempted three-pointer and Williams dropped in two more free throws to secure the win.
 
Harris posted a game-high 18 points and collected nine boards. Clark finished with 15 points and Rovito added 13.
 
The Lions continue NJAC play on Saturday. They visit Ramapo College for a 1 p.m. tip-off in Mahwah.