NEWARK, NJ — Senior forward
Courtney Vacca, junior guard
Jared Tactuk and junior guard
Martyna Ruminska combined for all 28 of the Raiders' second-half points, but Rowan held off the charging Scarlet Raiders, 58-54, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game in The Golden Dome.
Rowan 58, Rutgers-Newark 54
Vacca notched her seventh straight double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds while Tactuk finished with 17 points, four rebounds and three steals while dishing out a team-high seven assists. Ruminska notched 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. Tactuk and Ruminska had three treys apiece.
Sophomore guard
Samantha Grippo scored all nine of her points in the opening half for the Raiders.
Senior forwards Amanda Jennings and Michelle Lala combined for 37 points and 27 rebounds for the Profs. Jennings had 20 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots while Lala added 17 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot as the Profs (8-5, NJAC 2-1) held off a late run by the Scarlet Raiders (7-8, NJAC 2-2).
Vacca, Tactuk and Ruminska each had treys during an 11-2 run as Rutgers-Newark whittled a 10-point deficit to 43-40 with 6:50 remaining.
Back-to-back baskets by Lala followed by a Jennings jumper pushed the Prof lead back to 49-40, but the Raiders refused to fold.
Ruminska went on a one-player 8-0 spurt with a pair of free throws followed by back-to-back 3-point jumpers to make it 53-52 with 1:03 remaining.
Rowan senior guard Danielle Rohe drained a trey with 35 seconds left to put the visitors up by four before a pair of free throws by Vacca with nine seconds left made it 56-54.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Jennings fired the ball from the baseline to sophomore guard Alissa Lamey who got behind the Rutgers-Newark defense. Lamey was fouled on the breakaway, but made both free throws to ice the victory with seven seconds remaining.
Rohe finished with nine points and four assists for the Profs while Lamey dished out a team-high seven assists. Junior guard Gina Catanzarita finished with eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots as Rowan swatted away seven Raider shots.
Rutgers-Newark visits William Paterson for an NJAC twinbill on Wednesday. The women tip off at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 o'clock.
