NEW YORK, N.Y. (December 3, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team fought hard on the road in a tough non-conference matchup against New York University but the hosts eventually pulled away to take a 67-49 decision. The Scarlet Raiders fall to 4-3 while the Violets improve to 4-2.

Rutgers-Newark was led by senior Faith Ashby who had her third consecutive game with at least 20 points and her fourth of the season as she scored 24 points while hitting on 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 at the free throw line. The senior also had team-bests of six rebounds, five assists, and four steals in an impressive all-around effort. Junior Hannah Ashby joined her in double-figures with 12 points in addition to four boards and two steals. Sophomore Comfort Akinbo put together a full stat line with nine points, four caroms, two dimes, two steals, and one block.

The Raiders return to New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) action on Wednesday when they host William Paterson in The Golden Dome for a 6 p.m. contest.

R-N hung tough in the first half even though there was only one tie and one lead change. NYU jumped out to an early 4-0 edge but the visitors knotted the game at 4-4 on a pair of Faith Ashby freebies and an Ashby lay-in.

The Violets would lead by as many as five twice in the opening quarter, however the Scarlet Raiders responded on both occasions. Faith Ashby cut an 11-6 deficit to two with a trifecta while a Hannah Ashby jumper saw Newark end the first trailing just 16-13.

NYU attempted to pull away in the second period. The home team scored the first 11 points of the quarter and created a seemingly insurmountable 14-point lead.

Still, the Raiders would not go down without a fight and quickly began chipping away. Hannah Ashby knocked down a mid-range shot to make it 27-15 and then drained a 3-pointer to cap a furious 9-0 surge that cut the deficit to five.

The Violets extended their advantage to seven and six, respectively, but Rutgers-Newark would not back down. First Hannah Ashby drilled another shot from downtown to reduce the hosts' lead to four before Akinbo scored in the paint for the last bucket of the first half to send R-N into the locker rooms trailing only 31-27.

Unfortunately, NYU did build a more comfortable cushion in the third quarter. While a traditional three-point play by Akinbo had the Raiders within 42-37 at the 3:34 mark in the period, the Violets closed the quarter on a 6-0 spurt to take a 50-39 lead into the final quarter.

NYU continued to pull away from there, maintaining a double-digit advantage the rest of the game en route to a 67-49 victory.