GLASSBORO, NJ – The Rutgers-Newark women's basketball team won 73-68 over Rowan University in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Scarlet Raiders (14-12) are the sixth seed and they advance to the semifinals at Stockton University (20-5) on Wednesday, February 25 at 7 p.m. Rowan, the third seed, is 17-9 and will await a possible at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
 
In the other first round game, the fourth seed The College of New Jersey (16-10) defeated the fifth seed William Paterson University (14-12), 63-61. Top-seeded Montclair State University (24-1) hosts TCNJ on Wednesday, February 25 at 7 p.m. The semifinal winners play for the NJAC championship on Saturday, February 28 at the highest remaining seed. The NJAC champion earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
 
Rutgers-Newark forward Jade Howard (sr. Sicklerville, NJ/St. Joseph (Hammonton)) recorded a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Maria Simmons (so. Irvington, NJ/Irvington) registered 16 points and center Jasmine Lombard (so. Hillside, NJ/Hillside) chipped in with 12. Guard Arianna Williams (jr. Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Reg.) had 13 boards and scored 12 points. Forward Adayshia McKinnon (so. Montclair, NJ/Montclair) added nine points.
 
For Rowan, guard Bria Hill (sr. Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City) tallied 14 points. Guards Jade Bonder (sr. Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) and Anyssa Sanchez (so. Stratford, NJ/Sterling) each produced 11 points. Sanchez also corralled six rebounds. Guard Kaitlin Schullstrom (jr. Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) had eight points, while guard Ashanti Bishop (jr. South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) and forward Melissa Lake (fr. Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) scored seven points apiece.
 
Rowan held a 6-4 lead (16:52) after a jumper by center Kate Matthews (jr. Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson). Rutgers-Newark poured in the next 15 points to take a 19-6 advantage with 12:38 remaining. Guard Shala Glenn (so. Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) scored five points, Lombard had four while Howard and Simmons each tallied three. McKinnon's layup made the score 27-15 (6:27). Schullstrom them converted three straight layups (4:34, 3:58 and 3:44) to cut the deficit to six (27-21). Bishop hit two free throws (1:47) to trim the advantage to four (31-27). Howard registered a layup (0:06) and the Scarlet Raiders took a 36-29 lead into the intermission.
 
Rutgers-Newark led 42-30 (18:07) then Rowan got to within six (44-38) at the 14:27 mark. The Scarlet Raiders expanded their lead to 10 points (48-38) after two free throws by McKinnon (12:46). Two free throws by Simmons gave them a 60-50 advantage with 3:47 on the clock. Rowan used a 10-2 run to draw pull to within two points (62-60) with 1:56 left. The score was 64-62 (1:26) after Sanchez's layup. McKinnon produced a basket (1:15), Williams hit a free throw (0:44) and Simmons converted twice from the charity stripe (0:37) to put Rutgers-Newark back up by seven points (69-62). The Scarlet Raiders made four more free throws in the final 21-seconds to ice the game.