NEWARK, N.J. (December 15, 2017) – Tonight the Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team played its last contest of the fall semester in The Golden Dome against non-conference regional foe New York University. Despite a late rally, the visitors pulled away for a 65-52 victory to improve to 6-4 while the Scarlet Raiders fall to 5-6.

Rutgers-Newark was led by junior Faith Ashby who poured in a team-best 15 points including 2-of-5 shooting from downtown, nine rebounds (four offensive), and team-bests of five assists and three steals. Sophomore Comfort Akinbo had a monster evening on the glass, pulling down a game-high 15 boards including five on the offensive end while adding eight points.

A slow start to the opening period quickly turned into an up-and-down affair as the sides tied four times and traded the lead four on four occasions. After a Faith Ashby lay-in knotted the score at 9-9, NYU rattled off a quick 5-0 spurt to claim its largest lead of the game. Still, sophomore Hannah Ashby found Faith Ashby on a kick out in the waning seconds of the quarter and Faith drained a 3-pointer to pull R-N within 14-12.

The Scarlet Raiders carried that momentum into the second quarter, quickly tying the game when the home team broke the press and sophomore Autumn Webster found Hannah Ashby for an easy lay-up. The squads continued to trade advantages over the next few minutes. Hannah Ashby knocked down a shot from behind the arc to make it 17-16 and Akinbo banked home a jumper from inside the paint for a 19-18 edge. With 4:24 to go in the period, senior Nicole Skelly tied the contest at 21-21 when she grabbed an offensive board and put it back in. Still, the Violets headed into the break with a 28-23 advantage thanks to a 7-2 spurt.

NYU came out of the gate strong in the second half, scoring the first six points of the third quarter to biggest advantage, 34-23. Rutgers-Newark roared back with a 6-0 run on baskets from three different players but with 2:29 remaining in the period the visitors still held an 11-point lead. Over the final two minutes the Scarlet Raiders cut their deficit down to single digits on some freebies to make it 45-37 at the end of three quarters.

R-N made it a six-point game early in the fourth period on a pretty inbounds play as Akinbo got free and swished an eight-foot jumper. Then, following a scramble in front of the basket, sophomore Ania Harrell grabbed the loose ball and put it back in while drawing contact to close the gap to just 45-41. After NYU extended its edge back to seven, Faith Ashby responded once again by knocking down a trifecta from the left wing with 5:51 to play.

The home side continued clawing its way back and at the 3:46 mark Skelly had her team within two after finding nothing but the bottom of the net on a long 3-pointer off a drive and kick from Faith Ashby to make it 53-51. Unfortunately, that is as close as the Scarlet Raiders would get as the Violets closed out the contest with a commanding 12-1 run to earn a 65-52 win.

Rutgers-Newark returns to action over the break when it hosts the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford on December 30 at 1 p.m. in The Golden Dome.