NEWARK, N.J. (January 28, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds to visiting New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) foe TCNJ tonight in The Golden Dome, 45-43. The Scarlet Raiders are now 12-8 (9-4 NJAC) while the Lions improve to 12-8 (10-3 NJAC).

Rutgers-Newark was led by senior Faith Ashby who scored 13 points in addition to seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Junior Comfort Akinbo joined her in double-figures with 12 points while also pulling down seven boards and adding a block. Freshman Dorian Capurso had a squad-high nine caroms (six offensive) and five steals as well as sharing team-best honors with five dimes.

The Raiders continue their NJAC slate with a road matchup against William Paterson on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

A very even first quarter featured three lead changes and one tie as teams engaged in a see-saw battle. Faith Ashby started the scoring with a jumper but TCNJ quickly took its first lead on a trifecta less than a minute later.

R-N bounced back immediately, going on a 6-0 spurt that included two more buckets by Faith Ashby.

Still, the Lions responded with a 7-0 run before Akinbo evened the score at 10-10 on a jumper to send the squads into the second all tied up.

The second period was even lower scoring than the first as the defenses ratcheted up the pressure. TCNJ managed to outscore the hosts 7-2 for the first 9:59 of the quarter. However, the Raiders managed to slice their deficit from five to two when junior Hannah Ashby caught a pass from Capurso and drained a 3-pointer to send her side into the break trailing 17-15.

The offenses rediscovered their form after halftime as the Lions opened the third on an 8-2 surge that created a 25-17 gap within the first three minutes.

Rutgers-Newark answered its biggest deficit of the night in a huge way, closing the quarter with a 15-3 surge. Hannah Ashby kickstarted the rally when she drained a shot from beyond the arc at the 6:36 mark. Faith Ashby contributed the next five points while Capurso tied the contest on a lay-up and rookie Elisha India Cross sent the Scarlet Raiders in front on a triple with 1:53 on the clock.

Capurso capped the rally with a lay-up off a Faith Ashby feed before the visitors added a free throw to make it 32-28 in favor of the home team headed into the fourth.

R-N continued its momentum into the final quarter, beginning the period on a little 6-2 run that extended the lead to 38-30 after a pair of Faith Ashby freebie with 4:28 remaining.

The Lions responded with a 3-pointer to stem the bleeding before Akinbo converted a basket in the paint to extend the lead to seven.

From there, the visitors clawed all the way back into the contest, going on an 8-3 spurt and cutting their deficit to just two with exactly 1:00 on the clock.

Following a Raiders turnover, the Lions ran the shot clock down as Shannon Devitt made the biggest play of the evening, following her own missed jumper and scoring while drawing contact. Devitt converted the traditional three-point play to make it 44-43 with 10 seconds remaining.

After a full timeout, Rutgers-Newark had a chance to take the lead, but Faith Ashby was off on her jumper. Still, Hannah Ashby grabbed a huge offensive rebound but a charge by Capurso gave the ball back to TCNJ.

Nicole Shatsky hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to extend the visitors' slim edge to two points, giving the Scarlet Raiders one final chance with 1.6 seconds to go.

Coming out of a timeout that advanced the ball, R-N's designed play got the ball to Akinbo in the paint. Unfortunately, her turnaround jumper would not fall as the hosts suffered a tough league defeat.