R-N Schedule | R-N Stats

NJIT Schedule | NJIT Stats

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NEWARK, N.J. (December 22, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team will travel to New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Wednesday night, December 28.
 
It will be the team's first game since a dominating performance at Drew University in which the Scarlet Raiders allowed just 40 points against in the 62-40 victory. The win was the third straight for Rutgers-Newark, and it helped the Scarlet Raiders improve to 4-7 overall after a 1-4 start.
 
"It was definitely a rough start for us, but we have been playing together much better recently and it is showing in the results," said Head Coach Ashley Cieplicki. "I think as a group we are executing and following the game plan a little more consistently, and we are getting more and more comfortable playing with one another."
 
Leading the recent hot streak has been senior guard Maria Simmons who has earned New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Player of the Week honors each of the last two weeks. Simmons – who scored her 1,000th-career point in the first game of the season – has averaged 19.3 points on 48.7 percent shooting during the winning streak, adding 6.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists to her line.
 
Overall, Rutgers-Newark has locked down the opposition on defense, holding its foes to 36.8 percent shooting from the field and 20.4 percent shooting from deep. R-N has also heated up from the floor in its own rite of late, shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 33 percent from distance which is a noticeable improvement from a season-long 36 percent field-goal percentage. The Scarlet Raiders have also been passing better, assisting on exactly half of their made baskets (38 assists, 76 field goals).
 
NJIT will offer the Scarlet Raiders a great test before R-N gets into the meat of its conference schedule starting early in 2017. The Highlanders are an NCAA Division I team in the Atlantic Sun Conference, boasting a record of 5-7 to start the season.
 
"The NJAC is such a good conference that any non-conference game is going to help us try and prepare for those battles," added Cieplicki. "NJIT being a Division I program with a great coach will make this matchup especially tough, but being able to play against them in a loud gym and on ESPN3 is something most Division III players never get to experience. I hope we give it all we have."
 
In addition to Simmons, sophomore guard Faith Ashby has been hot of late, averaging 18.3 points per game while shooting an excellent 48.9 percent over her last three outings. Additionally, R-N has been getting contributions from its bench in freshmen Louise Ann Borja and Hannah Ashby who have been playing well.
 
The Final Four…:
Defense! Defense! Defense! Rutgers-Newark has allowed 60 points against in its last six quarters, and the Raiders have allowed just 151 total points (50.3/game) over their last three contests.
Contributions: Senior guard Shala Glenn has been coming on of late, averaging 7.7 points per game in her last three while shooting 60 percent from the field.
Efficient! Louise Ann Borja is shooting 69.2 percent (9-for-13) from the field and 71.4 percent (5-for-7) from three-point land during her team's current winning streak.
Assist-to-Turnover: R-N's last three opponents have turned the ball over 66 times while totaling 27 assists. Over that same span, R-N has 11 more assists (38) and 16 less turnovers (50) which is a recipe for success.
 
Fans unable to make it to NJIT for the December 28 same-city, cross-division rivalry game at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center can follow all the action live via links posted on www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com or by clicking here.