#11 William Paterson 77, Stockton 73

Aliyah Nelson

Boxscore
Richard Stockton (7-7, 2-3) opened up an 11-point lead in the second half but could not hold off 11th-ranked William Paterson (16-1, 4-1) as the Pioneers denied Stockton’s upset bid 77-73. Aliyah Nelson (Pleasantville/St. Joseph) scored a team-high 15 points for the Ospreys, followed by Nancy White (Ocean City/Ocean City) with 13 points and Aspen Price-Perry (Lindenwold/Lindenwold) with 11 points. Stockton shot 56.9 percent from the field but went just 10-25 (40%) at the free throw line.

The close first half featured four lead changes and three ties. After Price-Perry scored eight consecutive Stockton points to spark the Ospreys to a 42-35 lead with 2:13 left in the period, William Paterson scored the last five points to pull within 42-40 at the break. Price-Perry went 4-4 from the field and scored 11 points to lead Stockton, which shot 64 percent from the field and 4-7 from three-point range but went just 6-15 at the stripe.

The Ospreys controlled most of the second half and led by 11 points on four occasions. Jill Shaner (Egg Harbor Twp./EHT) hit a jumper with 7:38 on the clock to give Stockton its last double-digit lead at 70-59. William Paterson responded with an 11-1 run to get within 71-70 before White sank a jumper that put the Ospreys on top 73-70 with 2:02 to play. The basket proved to be Stockton’s final points of the game as William Paterson closed with a 7-0 spurt to spoil the possible upset 77-73.