NEWARK, N.J. (December 3, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team hung tough Saturday night against the 14th-ranked Montclair State University Red Hawks, but the Scarlet Raiders ultimately fell, 49-42.
 
Senior Maria Simmons scored a team-high 20 points to go along with six assists, five steals and four rebounds to lead Rutgers, while sophomore faith Ashby had 15 points, nine boards, two assists, one block and one steal.
 
The Scarlet Raiders fall to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), while MSU moves to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the league.
 
"I thought we competed well tonight against a very good, nationally-ranked team," said Scarlet Raider Head Coach Ashley Cieplicki. "We still need to get better every day, and we need to bounce back quickly Monday night when we play another very strong team in FDU."
 
Rutgers-Newark hosts FDU-Florham Monday night at 6 p.m. in The Golden Dome in a non-conference matchup.
 
The Scarlet Raider defense did an excellent job in the first quarter, limiting Montclair State to just 12 points and 36 percent shooting. The Red Hawks were able to take a 12-7 lead into the second, eventually taking a 29-20 margin into intermission. Simmons led the Scarlet Raiders with eight first half points, but after she hit a jumper to trim the MSU edge to three (21-18) late in the second, MSU scored eight of the next 10 points to close the half.
 
MSU came out strong in the second half, building a 16-point advantage with 4:15 left in the third quarter, but Rutgers-Newark went on an 11-3 run to close the period to get within eight. Simmons had seven points in the rally, and Ashby poured in four.
 
An Ashby layup with 9:11 left made it a 48-42 game, but Montclair ran off seven-straight points to go back on top by 13 with 7:21 on the clock.
 
A layup from junior Nikki Sammartino sliced the Red Hawk advantage to nine (55-46), but that would be as close as the Scarlet Raiders would get in the loss.
 
Rutgers-Newark shot 34.5 percent from the field, 3-for-10 from three and 8-for-16 at the stripe, while MSU shot 44.9 percent from the floor, 8-for-22 from range and 10-for-14 at the line. Freshman Autumn Webster notched five steals, five rebounds and two points for the Raiders who were out-rebounded 43-26 in the game.
 
MSU was led by 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists from junior Katie Sire, and 10 points and eight boards from senior Rachael Krauss.
 
Fans unable to make the trip to Newark Monday night can watch all the action live at www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com.