The New York University women's basketball team ended its 2017-18 season with a 52-48 loss to William Paterson University in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship Game on Sunday, March 4, at Washington & Jefferson University in Washington, PA.

The Violets (18-11) got off to a great start, scoring the game's first six points and expanding its advantage to 17-2 before settling for a 19-10 lead after the first quarter.

The Pioneers (18-12) rallied in the second quarter and cut its deficit to four points, 27-23, at halftime.

NYU re-established a 10-point lead by scoring the first six points of the third and ended the quarter ahead by three, 40-37.

The Violets continued to hold the lead and went ahead by seven, 46-39, on Cassidy Fontana's two free throws with 5:08 left in the game. However, NYU was outscored 13-2 the rest of the way.

Paterson finally took its first lead of the game, 48-46, on Carolyn Hill's two free throws with 1:20 remaining, and the Pioneers connected on their final four free throws to thwart any comeback attempt by the Violets.

"Credit goes to Williams Paterson in the last five minutes of the game," said Head Coach Lauren Hall-Gregory. "They played great defense and hit shots down the stretch."

Playing in her final game for NYU, senior Kayla Patterson led the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds, recording her sixth double-double of the season. She connected on nine of her 10 free throws, while also adding two blocks and two steals.

Kaitlyn Read, who played all 40 minutes, was held to only seven points, but did add six rebounds and team highs of six assists and two steals. The graduate student leaves NYU as the program's career leader in assists, single-season leader in assists and points, and career runner-up in points and steals.   

Fontana, also taking the floor for NYU for the final time, finished with 10 points and a career-high-tying eight rebounds. 

Senior Mikaela Pyatt collected four rebounds in her final contest.        

"Kayla, Cassie, Mikaela, and Kaitlyn were joys to coach," Hall-Gregory added. "They are what is right about college sports. They are team-centered, consistent players who have been great ambassadors for NYU and our basketball program."

NOTABLES:

- Both Read and Patterson were named to the ECAC All-Tournament Team.

- The Violets have never won the ECAC Division III Championship, but most recently captured the ECAC Metro Championship in 2010.

- Julie Rovito and Tori Woetzel each had 17 points for Williams Paterson.

"I am so proud of this team. This was not an easy season," Hall-Gregory concluded. "There were so many times we could have thrown in the towel or hung our heads. We didn't. We kept fighting and a had a great second-half of the season."