NEWARK, N.J. | Hannah Ashby scored a season-high 17 points but was unable to knock off New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rivals, New Jersey City University, tonight at the Golden Dome. The Gothic Knights used a pair of late free throws by Aaliyah McCrea to earn their first NJAC win of the season, 51-50.

Rutgers University-Newark (1-8, 0-5) suffered their first loss to NJCU under Head Coach Ashley Cieplicki this evening. As a team, the Scarlet Raiders shot 37.3% from the floor and 21.4% from three-point range but turned the ball over 20 times. Samiyah Horton added 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Comfort Akinbo swatted away three shots while Elisha India Cross led the team with five assists. 

New Jersey City University (3-6, 1-4) earned their first NJAC road win since December 10, 2014, after shooting 32.8% from the floor and 31.3% from behind the arc. The Gothic Knights outrebounded the Scarlet Raiders 42-38 and committed 16 turnovers. Ayanna Lewis led the Gothic Knights with 12 points and 12 rebounds while both Zyearah Taylor-Gaston and Hannah Johnson scored 11. Mya Neal led the charge on the court with four assists.

The Scarlet Raiders fell behind quickly in the opening stanza, 7-2, but were able to recover to knot it up at 11 on a Louise Ann Borja layup to send her team into the second quarter with some momentum. 

Rutgers University-Newark was able to keep within an arm's reach of the Gothic Knights and retied the game with 7:56 to go on an Ashby three-point bucket. Trailing by two, the Scarlet Raiders went cold which allowed NJCU to jump out to a seven-point lead with 3:15 remaining in the second quarter. Brielle Mattiello banked one off of the glass off of a pass from Ashby to put her team within three at the half. 

In the third quarter, the Scarlet Raiders took the lead for the first time in the game. Cross gave the Scarlet Raiders a one-point lead on a fast break jumper from in the paint. Horton pushed the Scarlet Raiders' lead out to five, 45-40, with 1:09 left in the third quarter.  The third quarter was the highest difference between points all game with the Scarlet Raiders outscoring the Gothic Knights 17-11. 

The Scarlet Raiders scored just five points in the fourth quarter despite holding the lead all quarter until the final three seconds. Down one, 50-49, Aaliyah McCrae drove to the basket and was fouled by Akinbo to send her to the line where she would convert both. Prior to McCrae hitting the pair, the Gothic Knights were just 2-for-10 from the charity stripe. The perfect play was drawn up for the Scarlet Raiders in the final seconds, however, Akinbo saw her buzzer-beating attempt roll out of the rim.

Up next for the Scarlet Raiders will be a trip down south to Texas where they will take part in the Courtyard Classic at UT Dallas on December 29 & 30.