CAMDEN, N.J. (December 14, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to top Rutgers University-Camden 65-53 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest.
 
The Scarlet Raiders held the Scarlet Raptors to just 20 points in the second half to improve to 2-3 in the conference and 3-7 overall. Rutgers-Camden drops to 2-3 in the league and 7-3 overall.
 
R-N will look to make it three-straight victories Saturday afternoon at Drew University in a non-conference test to close out play before the holiday recess.
 
"We showed great resiliency tonight," said Head Coach Ashley Cieplicki after her team's come-from-behind win. "Our pressure was the difference and our fight was unbelievable. I am very proud of the ladies, it was a great team win."
 
NJAC Player of the Week Maria Simmons led the Scarlet Raiders with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting. The senior added six rebounds, three assists and a steal, going 2-for-5 from three-point land and 7-for-10 at the line. Sophomore guard Faith Ashby had 20 points, an amazing seven steals and six rebounds, and junior Nicole Skelly had 10 points, six rebounds and two steals in an excellent second half. Freshman Louise Ann Borja led the Scarlet Raider reserves with seven points and three boards.
 
After being outscored 19-9 in the second quarter and falling behind 33-19 at the half, Rutgers-Newark turned things around in the second, scoring 46 points and outscoring the hosts 23-10 in both the third and fourth quarters.
 
Rutgers-Camden would take an 18-point lead with 8:33 left in the third quarter, but Rutgers-Newark closed the period on an impressive 23-6 run to get within one point heading to the fourth. Simmons started the run with a triple, and five-straight points from Ashby pulled R-N within 10. Ashby continued to cook, and Simmons and Skelly each connected from three in what was one of the top quarters of the season on both ends for the Raider women.
 
Borja hit a three to put Rutgers-Newark on top by one early in the fourth, and a three-point play from Skelly with 4:23 remaining made the score 51-46. Ashby and Skelly tallied baskets to push the lead to nine with 2:45 on the clock, and the Scarlet Raiders cruised the rest of the way to earn the key conference triumph.
 
Rutgers-Newark shot 40 percent for the game and hit on 28.6 percent of their attempts from distance, going 15-for-28 at the stripe and grabbing 34 rebounds. Newark was plus-10 in the turnover battle, and had 12 steals and an excellent 31 points off Camden turnovers.
 
The Scarlet Raptors held a 45-34 margin on the glass, shooting 36.4 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from deep and 56.3 percent at the line. The Camden players finished in double figures in the game.

Numbers of the Night: After going down by 18 points with 8:33 left in the third, Rutgers-Newark outscored Rutgers-Camden by 30 points over the final 18:33 of game time. In terms of points-for and points-against, the Raiders scored 46 during that time while giving up just 16.