Throughout Saturday's home contest vs. Passaic County Community College, the Roadrunner Women's Basketball team and their fortunes looked pretty bleak.

That is until midway through the second half when the Runners donned their rally hats and pulled out a dramatic 69-64 victory over the Panthers, who began the game holding a 19-3 lead.

Sophomore forward Jermyra Bethea sealed the win by depositing four points in the final two minutes for a 67-62 lead that ultimately held up in the see-saw affair. Bethea finished with 18 points while teammates Anna Dipiero (12 points), Jenna Georgette (10) and Shannon Pierman (10) also scored in double figures.

"We didn't make it easy on ourselves," said Coach Rich Cooper, whose team improved to 20-4 overall. "But we fought hard in the end, and we got the win. Hopefully this will make us a better team."

RCSJ climbed to within 31-26 at halftime, but trailed through the middle of the second half before taking a 51-50 advantage early in the fourth quarter. The lead exchanged hands several times before the Runners closed out on a 9-4 surge in nailing down the victory.

"We got ourselves in a big hole, but there was no way we were going to lose this game," said Bethea following the win. "We were much more focused as team in the second half, and that made the difference."

Next up for the Roadrunners will be a home game vs. Atlantic Cape on Feb. 11 in a 5 pm start, followed by two home games vs. Montgomery CCC and Lehigh Carbon later in the week.