EWING, N.J. (December 5, 2015) - The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team dropped a 59-48 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game at The College of New Jersey Saturday afternoon in Packer Hall.

The Scarlet Raiders fall to 1-2 in the conference and 3-4 overall, while the Lions move to 2-5 overall and 2-2 in the NJAC.

Junior guard Maria Simmons led the Scarlet Raiders with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Junior guard Shala Glenn had 16 points, four steals and three rebounds, and senior guard Arianna Williams had nine points, a team-high six boards and three steals.

Rutgers-Newark tallied 12 steals in the game and compiled six assists (18 turnovers), but the Scarlet Raiders were outrebounded 42-24. R-N shot 18-for-43 (41.9 percent) from the field, 2-for-10 from deep and 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) at the stripe. The Raider defense was strong, holding the Lions to 33.3 percent (19-for-57) from the field, 8-for-30 (26.7 percent) from distance and 13-for-18 (72.2 percent) at the line.

The Scarlet Raiders went on an 11-0 run to close the first quarter of play to take a 20-7 lead to the second. Williams and Simmons each hit three's, with sophomore Nicole Skelly, sophomore Nikki Sammartino and Glenn all scoring as well.

The Lions responded with a 15-4 run to open the second quarter, trimming the Scarlet Raider lead to two (24-22), but R-N was able to get a pair of stops and buckets from Williams and Glenn to take a 28-22 edge to the second half.

The two sides traded baskets over the first few minutes of the third quarter, with TCNJ tying things at 32 and closing the quarter on a 12-4 run to take a 44-36 margin into the fourth and final stanza.

TCNJ extended to a 13-point lead with five-straight points to start the third, but Glenn hit two foul shots to slow the host momentum and pull Rutgers back within 11 with 5:30 to play in regulation. The Lions' Kim Dana hit three to push the advantage back to 14, and the Raiders were able to respond with six-straight points from Simmons (four) and Glenn (two) to fight back within eight points (52-44) at the 3:48 mark. A Simmons steal and fastbreak layup trimmed the lead to six with 2:33 to go, but the Scarlet Raiders could get no closer, falling by the 59-48 final.

Dana (16) and sophomore forward Nikki Schott (12) led the Lions in scoring, and a senior guard Jess Lynch grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Scarlet Raiders will look to get back in the win column with a non-conference game against Centenary College in The Golden Dome Arena Monday at 6 p.m. R-N returns to NJAC play when it hosts Kean University Wednesday night.