POMONA, N.J. (January 9, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team coasted past Stockton University tonight for the squad's second straight New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) victory, 69-49. The Scarlet Raiders improve to 9-6 (6-2 NJAC) while the Ospreys fall to 4-11 (1-7 NJAC).
Rutgers-Newark's 6-2 record in league action marks the program's best start to conference play since the NJAC expanded to an 18-game format in 2013-14.
Senior
Faith Ashby and junior
Hannah Ashby led the R-N as both sisters scored at least 20 points. Faith had a game-high 25 points and six steals in addition to sharing team-best honors with seven rebounds. Hannah poured in 20 points including three trifectas while pulling down six boards and contributing three assists. Junior
Comfort Akinbo joined the Ashby sisters in double-figures with 11 points and added six caroms. Rookie
Dorian Capurso chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
The Raiders continue their NJAC slate in The Golden Dome on Saturday evening with a 6 p.m. matchup against Rowan.
Newark never trailed in this contest although the game was briefly tied at 2-2 in the very early going. A pair of Capurso baskets sandwiched around an Akinbo jumper made it 8-2 shortly thereafter and the visitors would maintain that six-point advantage heading into the second quarter.
The Ospreys rallied in the second period and cut their deficit to just one at 20-19 with 5:30 on the clock. However, the Scarlet Raiders were unfazed and took complete control of the game from that point on.
Rutgers-Newark rattled off the next 13 points to close out the half with a commanding 33-19 lead.
Faith Ashby began the run with a jumper while
Hannah Ashby capped the surge on a pull-up shot in the paint with six seconds on the clock. The Ashby sisters combined for 12 of the 13 points in that span.
Stockton would get no closer than nine in the third as the Raiders twice built a 17-point advantage before taking a 50-37 edge into the final 10 minutes.
With 7:53 remaining, the hosts again sliced their deficit to single digits and trailed 52-43. Still, R-N would not allow the Ospreys to get any closer, concluding the evening on a dominant 17-6 run that produced the final 69-49 margin. Four different Raiders contributed to that last surge while the Ashby sisters again accounted for the bulk of the scoring with 14 points between them.
