Box Score NEWARK, N.J. – Senior forward
Jade Howard was the only Rutgers University-Newark player in double figures as nationally-ranked Montclair State maintained a share of the New Jersey Athletic Conference lead with a 68-41 win in The Golden Dome Arena.
Howard tallied 20 points while adding team highs of nine rebounds and three steals for the Scarlet Raiders (10-9, NJAC 6-6) who are now in sole possession of fifth place in the league standings while the No. 10 ranked Red Hawks (18-1, NJAC 11-1) took their fourth straight win and competed a regular-season sweep of Rutgers-Newark. MSU is tied with Stockton (14-4, NJAC 11-0) – the only team to down it this season – for the lead in the 10-team league.
The 20 points lifted Howard into a tie for third place on the Rutgers-Newark all-time scoring list with 1,225 with Stephanie Jackson (1979-83).
Senior center
Sharee Gordon totaled six points and junior guard
Arianna Williams added five as the Red Hawks limited the Raiders to their second lowest point total of the season and their worst field goal percentage (25%). Sophomore guard
Maria Simmons and sophomore center
Jasmine Lombard scored four points each with Simmons adding five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Senior forward Melissa Tobie paced MSU with game highs of 25 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and three assists while notching her fifth consecutive double-double. She connected on three of four shots from long range while knocking down eight of 11 shots overall as she became the third player in MSU history to top the 1,800-point plateau with 1,806.
Sophomore forward Sage Bennett tied Tobie for game honors with 11 rebounds while adding nine points while freshman guard Katie Tobie tallied eight points on four of five shooting from the floor.
The Red Hawks jumped out to a 16-2 lead and led wire-to-wire in the contest.
It was the second consecutive NJAC loss for the Raiders who fell on the road to Stockton, 68-57, on Saturday – marking the first time that Rutgers-Newark has suffered back-to-back losses since November.
Rutgers-Newark visits The College of New Jersey for an NJAC doubleheader on Saturday. The men's game tips off at 1 p.m. with the women to follow at 3.
