WAYNE, N.J. - Senior guard
Joey Meyers scored 20 points, but William Paterson University rallied to hand the Drew University women's basketball team its first loss of the year, a 75-71 overtime setback in a non-conference tilt Saturday afternoon.
The Rangers (4-1) led by 12 early in the fourth quarter, only to see the Pioneers (3-1) tie it up with a 12-0 run to set up a tight finish.
Meyers added eight rebounds for Drew while junior forward
Jamie Struble netted a career-high 15 points to go with eight boards. Junior forward
Gracie Hezel contributed 13 points and nine rebounds while senior guard
Gwen Alberici posted seven steals.
Brianna Smith scored 23 points to lead William Paterson.
After the Pioneers late run that tied the game at 61-all with 4:19 left, the Rangers went in front on a lay-up from Hezel with 3:25 to go. William Paterson answered with the next four points, but freshman guard
Madelyn Morgan answered for Drew, converting a bucket with 1:38 showing to make it 65-65. The two sides missed a pair of field goals apiece over the rest of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Drew scored first on a lay-up from Hezel with 4:06 left. The Pioneers answered with the next four points to go up two before Alberici went 2-for-2 at the foul line to make it a 69-69 game with 2:06 on the clock. Struble followed up with two free throws of her own to give the Rangers a 71-69 lead, but those would turn out to be Drew's final points of the game. Smith hit 6-of-8 foul shots over the final 1:03 for William Paterson while hitting the tying and go-ahead free throws with 55 ticks showing.
It was a high-scoring affair in the early going, and the Rangers led 21-20 at the end of the first quarter after shooting 50.0% (9-for-18) in the period. Drew led 39-36 at halftime, with Meyers leading the way with 16 points.
The Rangers outscored the hosts 18-11 in the third quarter to open up a 10-point lead heading into the final stanza, setting up the Pioneers' late rally.
Drew picks up its schedule next Saturday, when it hosts John Jay College in a non-conference affair starting at 1 p.m.
