WEST HEMPSTEAD, NY – Senior guard Youngor Kehleay (Eatontown, NJ/Monmouth Regional) paced the Scarlet Raiders with a team-high 11 points, but Rutgers-Newark fell to host Briarcliffe, 61-46, at the Island Garden Basketball Center in West Hempstead, NY.

NCAA Box Score and Play-By-Play

Fellow senior Bimpe Fageyinbo (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills) netted 10 points in the loss, while freshman guard Jared Tactuk (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) totaled nine points and grabbed a career-high eight boards. Juniors Courtney Vacca (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) and Renee Edwards (Montville, NJ/West Milford) combined for eight points and eight rebounds.

Kehleay led Rutgers-Newark in the early going, netting five of the Scarlet Raiders first seven points to stake the team to a 7-4 advantage.

But an Elisha Raiford layup coupled with a Leona Virgo free-throw put the Lady Seahawks back on top with under 14 minutes remaining in the half.

Kehleay would bury her second triple of the afternoon to spark a 17-7 Scarlet Raider run over the next eight minutes of action to give Rutgers-Newark a 24-15 lead.

Briarcliffe guard Danielle Eagan would lead the Lady Seahawks rally with a pair of threes over a 30 second span as Rutgers-Newark clung to a one point advantage just shy of the four minute mark.

The Scarlet Raiders would maintain the one point margin until just before the half, when a Virgo jumper at the buzzer gave the Lady Seahawks the lead entering the intermission.

Briarcliffe would continue its hot streak coming out of the break, scoring the first nine points of the second half to take a 10 point advantage.

Fageyinbo would momentarily quell the Scarlet Raider dry spell with a pair of free-throws at the 16:27 mark, but a 13-7 Briarcliffe run capped off by another Eagan trey would push the Lady Seahawk advantage to 14 at the 10:26 mark.

Fageyinbo would help the Scarlet Raiders trim the lead to 10 with just over three and a half minutes remaining, but that was as close as the Scarlet Raiders would get before Briarcliffe embarked on 7-2 run to close out the game, sealing the victory.

Virgo led all scorers with a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Briarcliffe guard Helena Sargent added 15 points and 11 boards.

Rutgers-Newark will look to bounce back with a win against New Jersey Athletic Conference rival William Paterson on Wednesday, February, 11 during Rutgers-Newark's inaugural Red Alert night.