R-N NJAC Championship Recap I Highlights

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (March 1, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team traveled to host SUNY New Paltz tonight for the program's first-ever NCAA Division III Championship Tournament appearance. The Scarlet Raiders battled hard all night in a hostile environment but could not keep up with the Hawks as they lost their first round matchup, 65-36.

Rutgers-Newark concludes a historic and impressive season with a 16-13 record while New Paltz improves to 24-4 and continues on to the second round against Emmanuel College tomorrow evening.

Senior Faith Ashby summed up the night well, "It sucks to lose but we've made history. Winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship and making it to the NCAA Tournament with this team was an incredible experience that I will never forget. Rutgers-Newark has put its name on the map as a program and I feel like we can only go up from here."

"This was really exciting for our team and program." added head coach Ashley Cieplicki, "Losing Faith will be hard but our women now know what it takes to reach this level. I really enjoy our team and I think that our chemistry as a unit was an X-factor all season that we all look forward to continue building on."

The Raiders were led by freshman Dorian Capurso who scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in addition to two blocks and an assist. Faith Ashby, junior Hannah Ashby, and sophomore Jasmin Erichsen each contributed six points. Junior Louise Ann Borja chipped in with five points, four boards, an assist, and a steal.

R-N struggled to find its shot in front of a raucous home crowd and tough Hawks defense in the first quarter but still managed to limit the hosts to 29.4% shooting from the field and 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Hannah Ashby got the Raiders on the board in emphatic fashion, finishing a lay-up through contact and then finishing off the traditional three-point play at the free throw line. That play sparked a 7-2 spurt for the visitors as Faith Ashby knocked down a jumper and rookie Elisha India Cross scored in the paint off an assist from classmate Syncere Lambert to cut the deficit to 17-7. Unfortunately, New Paltz closed the period on an 11-1 run and the Raiders headed to the locker room trailing 28-10 at the half.

The second half featured more of the same as the Hawks utilized a deep bench and impressive shooting to continue to pull away from R-N.

Three different Scarlet Raiders got on the board in the third quarter as Capurso scored four, Borja added three, and sophomore Erichsen chipped in a pair of freebies.

The closest Rutgers-Newark got in the fourth was 21 on another Capurso lay-up with 9:02 to play. The visitors fought until the final whistle, epitomized by Borja producing a steal and fast break lay-in with 2:06 on the clock. Still, the home side remained in control to secure a comfortable win.