NEWARK, NJ | The Scarlet Raiders came out on top 61-55 in a hard-fought New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) battle against a tough Ramapo team. The game came down to the wire but the home team was able to prevail holding off a late-game surge by Ramapo. Hannah Ashby led the way with 17 points on 6-14 shooting, hitting 2-5 three-pointers and nailing all of her free throw attempts 3-3.
Rutgers University-Newark (3-14, 1-9) had Syncere Lambert matched her season-high with 11 points in the win on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor. Ashby led the charge with seven rebounds while Comfort Akinbo continued to add to her block tally, securing four this evening.
Ramapo College (8-9, 2-8) was led by Samantha Rinaldi with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting. The Roadrunners could not get out of their way as they complied 24 turnovers thus proving to be the difference in the game. Stacey Porzl played a team-high 34 minutes and added 12 points while the team's leading scorer, Jenna Harsh, was held to just 9 points and 14 rebounds.
Ashby scored the first points of the game on a wing three-pointer which would set the tone for the rest of the quarter. The scoring came to a stalemate with both teams going back and forth with turnovers as neither team could get their offense in rhythm. The Roadrunners finally settled into the game and tallied a triple by Porzl to level the game.
The Scarlet Raiders would force Ramapo to use their timeout after quickly taking an 11-5 lead. Akinbo hit a quick jumper to put the Scarlet Raiders up six which caused the Roadrunners to call a timeout to try and cool off the surging Scarlet Raiders. Coming out of the timeout the Scarlet Raiders forced a turnover and Hannah Ashby nailed a deep three, she asserted her presence by accumulating eight of the Scarlet Raiders' first 14 points.
Forcing turnovers would continue to be the theme of the first quarter for the Scarlet Raiders as they forced seven of them and they would take advantage, capitalizing on almost every change of possession. The Scarlet Raiders finished the quarter on a 7-0 run leading, 21-8.
The second quarter began as a back and forth battle with both teams connecting on their first pair of shots. Momentum swung in Ramapo's favor as the Scarlet Raiders struggled to maintain possession. Ramapo took advantage going on a 9–4 run. This would quickly change after the Rutgers-Newark women scored five unanswered points. Porzl was sent to the line where she drained two free throws after being tossed to the ground on a hard foul ending the Scarlet Raiders' run. Akinbo ended the half on a beautiful mid-range jumper and the Scarlet Raiders would lead 37-24 at the half.
The second half began with both teams committing frequent turnovers as neither team could find their rhythm early on in the quarter. After Bridget Cahill nailed a three-pointer, bringing the score to 42-33, the visiting teams' crowd erupted and it seemed momentum had changed, however, this was short-lived as they would miss their next four shots.
Momentum once again went in Ramapo's favor after Porzl connected on a layup as she was fouled. Soon after Cahill hit her second three of the quarter, followed by Jenna Harsh scoring on a layup. The layup cut the lead down to 46-42 after three-quarters of play.
After a low scoring back and forth affair, the score remained 53-47 with just 4:22 remaining. Ashby continued her strong night by ending the two-minute scoring drought with a strong layup where she would convert that and her point after attempt to push the Scarlet Raiders further out in front. The Scarlet Raiders continued to keep the Roadrunners at bay despite their attempts to regain the lead.
The Scarlet Raiders will return to action on Saturday, January 25 when they travel south to take on The College of New Jersey for another NJAC matchup.
