NEWARK, N.J. (January 6, 2016) – Rutgers University-Camden defeated Rutgers University-Newark 77-71 Wednesday night in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) women's basketball game in The Golden Dome Arena.
Rutgers-Newark falls to 1-5 in the conference and 5-8 overall, while Rutgers-Camden moves to 7-4 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
The Scarlet Raiders were led by senior guard
Arianna Williams, junior guard
Maria Simmons and junior guard
Shala Glenn. Williams had 27 points, five rebounds and three steals, and Simmons had 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting, eight steals, seven rebounds and six assists. Glenn had her first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward
Nikki Sammartino had eight points, six rebounds and four steals.
Rutgers-Newark shot 42.4 percent (25-for-59) from the floor, 25 percent (4-for-16) from deep and 73.9 percent (17-for-23) at the line, grabbing 38 rebounds and tallying 16 steals.
R-C shot 25-for-71 (35.2 percent) from the floor, 6-for-20 (30 percent) from three and 21-for-32 (65.6 percent) at the line, ending the game plus-10 on the glass (48-38) and racking up 19 assists. Freshman guard Gabby Greene had 30 points to lead the Scarlet Raptors and senior forward Kamari Talley finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Junior forward Caroline Santiago had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Scarlet Raiders jumped out to an early lead behind Glenn and Williams as the duo combined for 13 of the team's 18 first quarter points, with Glenn getting three rebounds and Williams notching a pair of thefts. Rutgers-Newark forced 11 first quarter turnovers to open an 18-11 lead over the Raptors, getting five steals from Simmons in the process.
A Williams triple early in the second gave Rutgers-Newark its first double-digit advantage of the half and that edge would swell to as many as 14 after two at the line from Sammartino who was excellent underneath in the early going for the Raiders.
R-C closed the half on a 9-0 run to get within five points (30-25) at intermission.
A Glenn jumper with 7:33 left in the third pushed the Scarlet Raider lead back to nine points (36-27), but Rutgers-Camden was able to fight within three or less at several junctures before a Simmons jump shot helped Rutgers-Newark to a five-point lead after three, 54-49.
The game turned on its head for the Scarlet Raiders early in the fourth as R-C went on an 11-2 run to start, opening a 61-56 edge with 7:41 on the clock. The host deficit would move to nine with less than five minutes to play, but a 9-0 rally featuring five points from Simmons and two apiece from Williams and Glenn tied the score at 67 with 2:17 left.
Two Greene free throws pushed Camden back on top, and after Williams hit 1-of-2 at the line on the next Scarlet Raider possession, two Santiago free throws after an offensive rebound and a driving Greene layup all but sealed the win with 28 seconds to play.
The Scarlet Raiders return to the hardwood Saturday at 1 p.m. when they visit William Paterson University.
