NEWARK, NJ – Senior forward Brittany Jones threw in a follow shot from the left side of the lane with 2.1 seconds left to lift Old Westbury to a 56-54 win over top-seeded Rutgers-Newark in the opening round of the ECAC D-III Metro Women's Basketball Championship.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Freshman guard ShaQuanna Marshall, who made a career-high eight steals, and Courtney Woodard netted 14 points apiece for Rutgers-Newark while senior forward Jaleesa Coleman added nine points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Kristen Venning hauled down a game-high 13 rebounds and dished out a career-high eight assists.

Jones, who finished with just four points, hauled in the second offensive rebound in a furious flurry under the Panther basket in the closing seconds as eighth-seeded Old Westbury (20-7) stunned the Scarlet Raiders (19-10) in The Golden Dome.

Freshman guard Kim Weathers, who paced Old Westbury with 18 points, stole the Raiders' final inbounds pass to end any hope of tying the score.  Freshman guard Deidra Scott added a dozen points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists for the Panthers.

In a tight second half, a follow shot jumper by Woodard staked the Raiders to a 54-51 lead with 3:11 left. A Weathers free throw at 2:22 trimmed the Panther deficit to two before a pair of charity tosses by freshman forward Ruth Vargas knotted the score at 54-54 with 1:02 left.

In the end, it was a nightmarish two for 27 (7.4%) night from 3-point range that sank the Raiders.

Venning had a layup and a pair of steals followed by fastbreak assists to key an early 8-0 run which put the Raiders up 10-2 less than four minutes into the game. A steal and layup by Marshall gave Rutgers-Newark a 20-9 lead before freshman guard Deslyn Applewehaite netted six points during a 16-6 surge which gave the Panthers a 27-26 edge with 1:23 left in the period. A pair of free throws by Marshall sent Rutgers-Newark into the break with a slender 28-27 lead.

Old Westbury knocked down 50% of their shots in the first half to offset 17 turnovers while the Raiders connected on just 28.6% of their field goals tries while going one for 14 from 3-point range. Scott hit four of eight shots from the floor for eight points to pace the Panthers.

The Panthers move on to Saturday semifinal round against the winner of the No. 5 Ramapo versus No. 4 St. John Fisher game.