SALEM, Mass. (December 29, 2015) - The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team earned a 73-55 victory over Salem State University in the consolation game of the Salem St. Holiday Tournament Wednesday afternoon in Twohig Gym, getting a combined 55 points from senior guard Arianna Williams and junior guard Maria Simmons.

Williams poured in a season-high 29 points on 12-of-24 shooting to go along with four rebounds and four steals. The veteran Scarlet Raider has now scored 20-plus points in five-straight games and blew her previous season-high of 24 points out of the water.

Simmons finished with 26 points, hitting nine of her 19 field-goal attempts, adding eight assists, seven steals and seven rebounds to a remarkable all-around line. Simmons has dropped 20-plus in four-straight and has eight or more assists in four games this season.

With the win, the Scarlet Raiders improve to 5-7 overall and return to action on January 6 when they host New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) foe Rutgers University-Camden in The Golden Dome Arena at 6 p.m. The Vikings drop to 3-8 with the loss.

As a team, the Scarlet Raiders saw great improvement in shooting from Tuesday's tournament opener against Wheaton College, converting at a 44 percent clip (28-for-63) overall and hitting on five of their 14 attempts from deep (35.7 percent). R-N totaled 12 steals and 14 assists, recording 39 rebounds and hitting on 12-of-19 at the foul line. R-N was plus-four on the glass and forced 32 turnovers by Salem St. which turned into 38 points - by far a season-high.

The host Vikings shot 31.4 percent from the field (16-for-51), 9-for-14 from three (64.3 percent) and 14-for-20 at the line (70 percent). Leading Salem St. was guard Kaitlyn Bryan who scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, going 7-for-7 from three-point range and 8-for-10 from the field overall. Bryan added four steals as well.

Sophomore guard Nicole Skelly had seven points, two rebounds and two steals for the Scarlet Raiders, and junior guard Shala Glenn finished with six points, a team-high nine rebounds and two assists. Sophomore forward Nikki Sammartino added two points and five boards, with senior forward Samantha Chirichello adding two points and four rebounds off the bench.

A Bryan three-pointer late in the first would send the Vikings to a three-point lead heading to quarter number two, but it was pretty much all Scarlet Raiders from that point as the guests outscored Salem by seven in each of the final three quarters for the 18-point win.

R-N started the second on a 15-2 run to open a 29-19 lead with 4:10 to play in the half. Two Glenn free throws pushed the margin to double digits for the first time and an amazing 11 points from Williams in the first 5:08 of the quarter helped Rutgers to a lead it would never give up.

The Vikings were able to battle back late in the second, but after seeing its lead whittled all the way down two (29-27), a layup from Simmons just before the horn sent Rutgers-Newark to a four-point lead at the break.

The Scarlet Raiders extended early in the third, pushing the lead back into double figures on a fastbreak layup from Simmons, and the Vikings could get no closer than seven the rest of the way thanks in large part to a Rutgers-Newark defense that allowed just three points in the first 8:00 minutes of action in the third.

Four points from Simmons and two from Williams quickly put the game out of reach in the fourth, and a Simmons layup midway through the quarter helped the Raiders to their first 20-plus point lead of the game (62-41). Rutgers ended up leading by as many as 23 before the Vikings closed things on a 5-0 mini rally.

The 18-point win is Rutgers' second-largest margin of victory this year, bested only by the team's 86-65 win over New Jersey City University in the 2015-16 NJAC opener back on November 24.