#TEAMHEDDA Night
MAHWAH, N.J. (February 1, 2017) – Senior guard
Maria Simmons scored a career-high 34 points on an incredible 15-of-21 shooting to lead the Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team to a 68-61 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) win at Ramapo College Wednesday night at the Bradley Center.
Rutgers-Newark improves to 6-8 in the NJAC and 8-13 overall, earning wins in its last two conference games to remain just one game out of a conference playoff berth. Ramapo drops to 2-12 in the conference and 7-14 overall.
The Scarlet Raiders will look to make it three-straight NJAC triumphs Saturday night at 6 p.m. when they welcome William Paterson University to The Golden Dome. Rutgers-Newark will be hosting #TEAMHEDDA Night in support of youngster Hedda Siverttson who the team adopted last year through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.
Simmons was remarkable from start-to-finish, needing just 21 shots for her 34 points. She went 2-for-3 from long range and picked up a double-double thanks to 10 rebounds, also adding five assists and four steals to her line in an all-around splendid performance.
"We overcame a lot of adversity tonight to get the job done," said Head Coach
Ashley Cieplicki after the game. "Maria (Simmons) took control which is exactly what we needed today and moving forward."
After a back-and-forth start, Ramapo took the upper-hand early in the action, opening an 19-10 lead with 47 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Scarlet Raiders countered with a nice run to bridge the two periods, outscoring the Roadrunners 9-1 to get within one point (20-19) after Simmons set up classmate
Shala Glenn for a jumper.
A Simmons free throw following a jumper from junior forward
Nicole Skelly knotted the game at 25, and a 7-0 rally keyed by freshman
Hannah Ashby and Simmons helped the Scarlet Raiders take a 32-28 lead late in the half. The Roadrunners would close out the half with four-straight tallies to tie the game at the break.
Simmons had a marvelous first half, scoring 18 points on 8-of-10 to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
Rutgers-Newark scored 13 points in the first 5:12 of the third quarter to take a six-point advantage, getting a trio of buckets from Glenn and a pair from Simmons, and the Raiders took a 51-46 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
Ramapo would come back to tie the game at 57 with 3:56 to play, but a Simmons triple thanks to a feed from sophomore guard
Faith Ashby put the Scarlet Raiders back on top with less than three minutes remaining. Simmons would put the team up five points moments later, and after the Roadrunners sliced the lead back to one (62-61) with 1:38 on the clock, a free throw from freshman
Autumn Webster, a jumper from Simmons and two foul shots from
Faith Ashby sealed the important win.
Rutgers-Newark shot 42.4 percent from the field, but struggled from deep (4-for-17) and at the line (8-for-17). The Raiders totaled 39 rebounds in the contest, grabbing a conference-season-high of 21 on the offensive end which resulted in 17 second-chance points. R-N totaled seven steals and nine assists as well.
Faith Ashby had 10 points and two rebounds, and Glenn was strong with nine points and eight rebounds. Skelly had five points and four boards off the bench, and junior
Nikki Sammartino tallied four points and four rebounds.
Notes:
-Simmons' previous career-high was 31 points. She totaled that number most recently at William Paterson on January 7. The double-double is her fifth of the season.
-Rutgers-Newark currently trails Rowan University, Rutgers University-Camden and The College of New Jersey in the NJAC playoff race. All three teams are 7-7, while Saturday's foe – William Paterson – is 8-6.
-Rutgers-Newark won four NJAC games in 2015-16 and has already won six in 2016-17 with four games left on the schedule.
