NEWARK, NJ – Junior forward Jade Howard netted 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to help Rutgers-Newark to a 70-60 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over William Paterson in The Golden Dome.

Howard, who posted a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds, played the final 5:23 of the game with four personal fouls to help turn back a late Pioneer threat.

Junior guard Courtney Woodard started and finished a key 8-0 run with layups around a layup by senior guard ShaQuanna Marshall and an inside basket by freshman center Jasmine Lombard to give the Scarlet Raiders their biggest lead of the game at 55-41 with 10:12 remaining.

The Pioneers (3-5, NJAC 1-3) responded with a 13-4 run keyed by sophomore guard Brittany Harden with five points and freshman forward Maya Harris with four.  Senior guard Floriana Borova dropped in a pair of free throws on Howard's fourth foul to trim the Raiders' lead to 58-54 with 5:23 left.

WPU sliced the deficit to four points twice more on a layups by Borova with 3:16 left and junior forward Ashley Marfo with 2:31 remaining to make it 64-60.  But the Pioneers would not get another point as Howard connected on a layup on a feed from Woodard with 1:51 left and Marshall went four for four from the free throw line in the final 42 seconds to provide the final margin.

Rutgers-Newark led by seven points three times in the first half, but the balanced Pioneers refused to let the home team break away.  A pair of Marshall free throws gave the Raiders a 36-32 lead at the half.

Marshall added 15 points, four assists and a game-high five steals for Rutgers-Newark (4-3, NJAC 2-1) while Woodard came up with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench.  Sophomore guard Arianna Williams dished off a team-high five assists with eight points, five rebounds and a pair of steals. Senior forward Jasmine Daniels posted seven points, five rebounds and four assists.

Harden netted 10 of her team-high 18 points in the second half and finished with six rebounds.  Borova totaled 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists while senior forward Dana Jeter and Marfo tallied nine points and seven rebounds each.  Jeter dished out a game-high six assists while adding three steals and two blocks.

Rutgers-Newark visits Mount Saint Mary at 7 o'clock on Monday night for a non-conference game.  The Raiders then break for fall semester exams before returning to The Golden Dome against Marymount on December 30.