EWING, N.J. (February 15, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team is in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament. The Scarlet Raiders toppled The College of New Jersey, 52-38, Wednesday night in Ewing in the regular-season finale for both teams, and Montclair State University defeated Rutgers University-Camden to give Rutgers-Newark the tiebreaker over Rutgers-Camden and TCNJ.
 
Rutgers-Newark entered the game needing a win to keep its hopes alive for an NJAC Playoff spot, and the Scarlet Raiders did just that, leading for the final 36:23 of game time. TCNJ and Rutgers-Camden were both tied with Rutgers-Newark for the sixth spot at 8-10, but the Scarlet Raiders won the tiebreaker via a 3-1 record against Camden and TCNJ.
 
R-N improved to 8-10 in the NJAC and 10-15 overall with the win, while the Lions dropped to 8-10 in the league and 11-13 overall. The eight wins represent a four-win increase inside the conference from 2015-16 for the Scarlet Raiders who will take on third-seeded Stockton University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
The Scarlet Raiders defense was suffocating from start-to-finish, keeping the host Lions to 10 points or less in three of the four quarters. Senior guard Maria Simmons had a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, adding seven steals and four assists to her line. Sophomore guard Faith Ashby tallied 14 points, six rebounds and six steals to her line, and R-N held TCNJ to just 26.4 percent shooting for the game.
 
Behind that exceptional defense, Ashby and Simmons, Rutgers-Newark jumped out in front early, building a 13-5 lead after one and a 31-19 advantage at the half.
 
Ashby scored four points in the final 22 seconds of the half, and Simmons tallied eight points in the final eight minutes of the second quarter as the Raiders responded to a TCNJ run to get the lead into double figures. Freshman guard Hannah Ashby also hit a three in the period, with freshman guard Autumn Webster drilling a big triple to close the first quarter scoring.
 
Faith Ashby finished the half with an excellent 12 points and five steals, Simmons had nine points, six rebounds and four assists, and the Raider defense held the Lions to 25 percent shooting.
 
In the third, the Rutgers-Newark defense continued to hound the Lions, holding them to just six points in the first seven minutes of the quarter. After Newark went up 14, TCNJ did get within 10 (35-25), but the Scarlet Raiders received big buckets from Ashby and Simmons to push the margin back to 14 (39-25) with 4:30 left in the quarter.
 
The two sides played scoreless ball for the next three-plus minutes before a Simmons steal eventually turned into two points for junior forward Nicole Skelly to push the advantage to a game-high 16 points.
 
Rutgers-Newark took a 43-29 lead into the fourth and took care of business as the Lions could get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
 
Rutgers-Newark shot 33.9 percent from the field, 2-for-14 from long range and 10-for-20 at the line, holding TCNJ to just 14 made field goals and one three-pointer on 19 tries. TCNJ held a 48-37 margin on the glass and an 11-6 edge in assists, but Rutgers-Newark forced 27 Lions turnovers that resulted in 26 Raider points.
 
Webster finished with five points, three rebounds and two steals, while junior forward Nikki Sammartino had four points and four rebounds.
 
Junior forward Chiara Palombi led TCNJ with 17 points and eight rebounds.
 
Rutgers-Newark last reached the NJAC Tournament in 2014-15, advancing to the semifinals with an upset of Rowan University in the opening round.
 
Scarlet Raider women's basketball fans can expect a full preview of the NJAC semifinal between sixth-seeded Rutgers-Newark and third-seeded Stockton University Friday morning.