NEWARK, NJ | The Scarlet Raiders women's basketball was unable to string wins together tonight after falling 51-44 in a close New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchup against the Ospreys of Stockton University. 

Rutgers University-Newark (2-13, 0-8) was led by Comfort Akinbo and Elisha India Cross who each scored 9 points. Dorian Capurso led the team in the rebounding column with 14 while also adding six points. Hannah Ashby pulled down seven rebounds and added six points. As a team, the Scarlet Raiders shot 29.8% from the floor and just 42.9% from the charity stripe.

Stockton University (7-8, 2-6) found success in their bench players as Kiley Gelston and Emily Donzanti tallied 15 and 10 points, respectively. The Ospreys used their quick hands to break up passes which turned into steals and edged out the Scarlet Raiders 16-9 in that category.

Both teams struggled to start the opening quarter of play as the teams combined for 11 turnovers. The Scarlet Raiders opted to play the inside game once again after having success on Monday against the Bloodhounds of John Jay College. Eight of the opening 9 points by Rutgers University-Newark were scored from inside the painted area. The Ospreys started to gain a head of steam as the first quarter began to come to a close, however, Elisha India Cross hit a three from the right flank to knot the game up heading into the second quarter. 

Capurso made two sublime passes that led to an Ashby triple and a Borja layup for a quick five-point swing that put the Scarlet Raiders back on top. Kiley Gelston prevented their deficit from getting out of hand as she hit a three-point buck from the top of the key to bring the game within a pair. The Scarlet Raiders took a five-point lead but saw that dwindle to just one before the half. 

Halftime was not kind to the Scarlet Raiders as they came out cold in the third. The Ospreys scored 12 unanswered points through eight minutes of play before Cross was able to get inside for an easy layup. Rutgers University-Newark saw their one-point lead quickly dissolve as they found themselves trailing by seven headed into the final quarter. 

The Scarlet Raiders found their stride in the fourth quarter and after Capurso hit a pair of quick layups, cut the lead down to just two. With time whittling down, both defenses dug their feet in and forced bad shots on both ends. Emily Donzanti hit a deep three to push her team's lead out to five before Stockton was able to add two more to their lead just moments later. Samiyah Horton tried to give her team a boost by hitting a three which cut the lead down to six but the Scarlet Raiders were unable to complete the comeback. 

The Scarlet Raiders will return to action on Saturday, January 18 when they travel to Glassboro, NJ to take on Rowan University in NJAC play.