NEWARK, NJ | The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team battled with Kean University in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) bout at The Golden Dome on Wednesday night. The Cougars used an explosive third quarter to hand the Scarlet Raiders their 11th straight loss, 69-42.

Rutgers-Newark (3-13, 1-11) shot 25.8% from the floor and 16.7% from three while Syncere Lambert led the way with 15 points. Elisha India Cross added 12 points while Ebony Odom Barnes pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

Kean (11-6, 9-2) was led by Shannon McCoy who scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Brittany Graff added 10 points alongside Shahd Badeer while Stephanie LaGreca accumulated 10 rebounds.

Rutgers-Newark came out strong against Kean in tonight's NJAC battle and held an 11-6 lead after one-quarter of play. The Scarlet Raiders were able to get inside and attack the paint in the first, which opened the perimeter play for Lambert and Cross who converted from mid-range and behind-the-arc. 

Kean's offense made some tweaks between quarters and abandoned the three-point game and used their height advantage in the paint to score 19, second-quarter points to take a 25-24 lead into the half. Despite Kean attacking the inside, Odom Barnes, Janvier, and Ilderis were up to the task and helped keep the Scarlet Raiders ahead of Kean in the rebounding category, 26-24. After a three-minute scoring drought, Kean cashed in from deep to take a five-point lead before Lambert went 4-for-4 down the stretch to send the Scarlet Raiders into the half down just one.

Out of the break, Kean caught fire and outscored the Scarlet Raiders 30-6 in the third quarter alone. The Scarlet Raiders didn't have an answer for the Cougars' offensive power on the defensive side while Kean was able to shut down the Scarlet Raiders. In the fourth, the Scarlet Raiders revitalized their offense, however, they weren't able to overcome that explosive third quarter.

Up Next:
The Scarlet Raiders will head to Camden, NJ on Saturday to take on Rutgers-Camden in another NJAC showdown.