NEWARK, N.J. (January 26, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team held off a late rally from visiting New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opponent NJCU to take a 56-51 victory in The Golden Dome tonight. The Scarlet Raiders improve to 12-7 (9-3 NJAC) while the Gothic Knights fall to 4-16 (1-12 NJAC).

Senior Faith Ashby led all scorers with a 20-point performance while adding nine rebounds (five offensive) and three assists. Junior Hannah Ashby recorded a double-double with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field while chipping in with a game-best 11 boards. Junior Louise An Borja had a squad-high four dimes.

The Raiders return to action on Monday when they host TCNJ in league play at 6 p.m. after their matchup was rescheduled from last Saturday due to inclement weather.

The two teams got off to a slow start in the first quarter as they found themselves even at 5-5 just over halfway through the period. Still, R-N got its offense going from there as the hosts scored the final nine points of the quarter.

Faith Ashby began the run with a fast break lay-in off a steal from junior Louise Ann Borja. Hannah Ashby tacked on a trifecta from a Borja assist before Faith Ashby scored again in the paint. Junior Comfort Akinbo capped the surge with a jumper in the paint from a designed out-of-bounds play.

The Gothic Knights got the first two buckets of the second to pull within five but the Raiders immediately looked to pull away with a 6-0 spurt that featured five Faith Ashby points and had her squad up 20-9.

Leading 24-13 it looked like Rutgers-Newark would cruise into the break with a very comfortable cushion but instead the visitors managed to force a few turnovers and slice their deficit to 26-18.

NJCU continued its comeback in the second half, going on an extended rally to even up the contest at 40-40 with 1:10 remaining in the third.

Rutgers-Newark did respond as Faith Ashby hit a freebie and freshman Elisha India Cross drained a huge 3-pointer before Hannah Ashby added a pair of free throws to send the home team into the final period leading 46-40.

The Gothic Knights would get as close as two when Mya Neal drilled a trifecta to make it 50-48 with 4:48 on the clock. Still, the Scarlet Raiders had the answers once again. Cross converted a tough and-one opportunity to make it a five-point edge before free throws from sophomore Jasmine Erichsen and rookie Dorian Capurso extended the advantage to 56-48 with 16 seconds to go.

NJCU added one more late triple but Rutgers-Newark came away with the 56-51 victory.