Highlights

NEWARK, N.J. (February 4, 2017) – Senior guard Maria Simmons had a night for the ages Saturday in The Golden Dome, scoring a career-high 37 points to go along with 13 rebounds, five assists and five steals as the Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team earned a big-time 76-65 overtime win over New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival William Paterson University.
 
The win is the third-straight in the conference for Rutgers-Newark as the Raiders move to 9-13 overall and 7-8 in the league. They have surpassed last year's league win total by three games with three contests left on the schedule, and they are currently tied for sixth place in the NJAC with Rutgers University-Camden and The College of New Jersey. R-N is just one game back of Paterson and Rowan University who are tied for fourth place at 8-7.
 
NJAC Standings
 
"It was a really great performance from Maria, she was unbelievable and willed us to the win," said Scarlet Raider Head Coach Ashley Cieplicki. "We knew this was going to be a battle but we never quit, kept pushing and made the big-time plays we needed down the stretch."
 
Simmons scored a new career-high for the second-straight game, shooting 13-of-24 from the field. An amazing 16 of her points came in the fourth quarter as the veteran helped Rutgers-Newark erase a 12-point deficit with less than eight minutes to play.
 
A free throw from sophomore guard Faith Ashby and a three from Simmons cut the deficit to eight (51-43), and a free throw and layup from Simmons had R-N within five points with 6:46 on the clock.
 
Paterson would go back up seven, but a jumper from senior guard Shala Glenn tied things at 55 with 4:10 remaining, and a coast-to-coast layup from Simmons gave the Scarlet Raiders a 57-55 lead with 3:49 to go.
 
The two teams would go shot-for-shot down the stretch as guard Julie Rovito's basket with 45 ticks left sent the game into overtime.
 
In the extra session it was all Scarlet Raiders as Simmons started the scoring with a layup 43 seconds in. A layup and two free throws from the senior made it 69-63 with just 1:19 left, and Faith Ashby and freshman guard Hannah Ashby – along with some suffocating defense – sealed the NJAC win with three free throws apiece.
 
The Pioneers built a 37-30 halftime lead, turning an 8-2 deficit into a 16-11 lead after one and leading by as many as 10 points in the second quarter.
 
Faith Ashby finished with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals for Newark, while Glenn had six points and four boards. Hannah Ashby had 10 points, five rebounds and four steals in a very strong 31 minutes off the bench, and junior forward Nikki Sammartino totaled three points, eight rebounds and two steals. Junior forward Nicole Skelly tallied eight big rebounds – four on the offensive end – as each team totaled 50 rebounds in the game. R-N ended the night with 14 steals, shooting 33.3 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from distance and 24-for-42 at the line.
 
William Paterson struggled to deal with the Rutgers-Newark pressure over the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime, committing 24 turnovers in the game. The Pioneers shot 33.3 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from three and 19-of-23 at the line.
 
Forward Janea Clark led William Paterson with a 17-point, 17-rebound, two-assist and two-block performance.
 
Rutgers-Newark will return to NJAC action Wednesday night at Stockton University. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.
 
What are the chances!? The Scarlet Raiders notched 24 points in the paint, 24 points off Paterson turnovers and 24 second-chance points (off 20 offensive rebounds).
 
Raising the Bar! Rutgers-Newark won eight games in 2015-16 overall. R-N now has nine wins. The Raiders won four NJAC games in 2015-16. They now have seven with three NJAC games left.