EWING, N.J. (January 10, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team suffered a 71-52 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) defeat at The College of New Jersey Wednesday night in Ewing.
The Scarlet Raiders drop to 6-9 overall and 1-7 in the conference, while TCNJ improves to 6-1 in league play and 11-3 overall. Rutgers-Newark will look to get back into the win column Saturday night at 6 p.m. inside The Golden Dome when the Raiders host conference foe Rowan University.
Junior guard
Faith Ashby led Rutgers-Newark with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while senior forward
Nicole Skelly posted 11 points, five rebounds, a team-high five assists and one blocked shot.
The hosts built an 18-9 lead late in the first quarter and led 20-13 after one. Sophomore center
Comfort Akinbo opened the scoring in the second quarter to make it a five-point game (20-15), but TCNJ closed the quarter on a 14-6 run to take a 41-25 margin into intermission.
A feisty Scarlet Raider squad battled back in the third, outscoring the Lions 18-10 to get within eight points heading into the final quarter. A layup from Akinbo and a three-point play from Ashby brought Newark within 11 (47-36), and two foul shots from Ashby made it a nine-point game with 5:34 left in the quarter. A jumper from Skelly pulled the guests within a half-low seven, and the two teams traded buckets the rest of the third quarter.
Skelly trimmed the deficit to six with a layup following a steal from sophomore guard
Autumn Webster with 9:25 to play in regulation, but a 13-2 run for TCNJ closed the door on the Rutgers-Newark comeback.
Akinbo finished with nine points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while sophomore guard
Hannah Ashby had six points and three rebounds. Rutgers-Newark shot 35 percent from the field (21-for-60) and 9-for-13 at the line, and the Raiders grabbed 29 rebounds and racked up eight total steals.
TCNJ shot 42.9 percent from the field, 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from distance and 13-for-16 at the line, finishing the game with 44 rebounds, 20 assists, seven blocks and six thefts. Four Lions were in double figures, with forward Nikki Schott totaling 15 points, six rebounds, six blocks, four assists and two steals.
