Box Score

WAYNE, NJ – Rutgers-Newark came up just short in its bid to upend No. 5 nationally-ranked and unbeaten William Paterson, falling 59-54 in the WPU Rec Center.

Senior guard Kendra Johnson netted 14 points and senior forward Lori Nieves added 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, but the Pioneers (15-0, NJAC 5-0) held off a late surge by R-N to stay unbeaten.

Johnson hit a jumper followed by a 3-point basket to trim WPU's lead to 57-54 with 33 seconds left, but senior guard BriAnna Lucas dropped in a pair of free throws with 16 ticks left to thwart the upset bid.

Freshman forward Jade Howard battled inside for nine points, eight rebounds, two steals and a game-high four blocked shots for Rutgers-Newark (11-4, NJAC 2-2) while sophomore forward Jasmine Daniels added a team-high 11 rebounds and eight points.

Sophomore point guard ShaQuanna Marshall totaled four points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals before fouling out in the 1:13 left.  Freshman guard Arianna Williams came off the bench for a game-high five steals plus four points, two rebounds, a blocked shot and an assist.

Lucas netted a game-high 21 points while senior forward April Smith tallied 16 points and a game-high dozen rebounds for the Pioneers.  Sophomore forward Dana Jeter netted 12 points, pulled down six rebounds and handed out five assists for WPU while sophomore guard Floriana Borova chipped in eight points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists.

The Raiders trailed just 28-26 at the break after Nieves nailed a 3-pointer with just nine seconds left in the period.

After a trey by Borova and a layup by Jeter pushed the Pioneer lead to 33-26 to start the second half, the Raiders refused to let the home team break away.

A Daniels jumper trimmed the Raider deficit to 44-43 with 11:13 left, but Rutgers-Newark would never get the lead.

Rutgers-Newark hosts Rowan in an NJAC doubleheader on Saturday in The Golden Dome Arena.  The women tip off at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 o'clock.