NEWARK, NJ – The Rowan University women's basketball team completed a fourth quarter comeback to win over Rutgers-Newark, 67-60 on Saturday.
With the win, the Profs are now 9-7 on the year and take third place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference with a 7-2 record. The Scarlet Raiders are 9-7 and have a 6-3 conference mark.
Guard
Dominique Peters (jr. Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) led Rowan with a double-double on 17 points and 10 boards. Guard
Olivia Rulon (sr. Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) followed with 11 points and seven rebounds, while forward
Jenna Hoffner (jr. Medford, NJ/Shawnee) scored nine points. Guards
Kennedy Brown (fr. Newark, NJ/The Tatnall School) and
Alexis Kriley (so. Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) chipped in eight points apiece.
For Rutgers-Newark, guard Elisha India Cross (fr. New Milford, NJ/Paramus Catholic) notched 14 points, while guard Faith Ashby (sr. Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) added 13. Guard/forward Hannah Ashby (jr. Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) produced 11 points and five steals and guard/forward Dorian Capurso (fr. Little Ferry, NJ/Ridgefield Park) recorded a double-double on 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Rowan trailed 46-36 at the start of the fourth quarter. Both sides traded baskets for the first few minutes of play to move the score to 53-45 (6:32). The Profs then went on a 6-0 run to cut the margin to 53-51. Hoffner hit a jumper (6:19), followed by a layup from Kriley (5:51) and two free throws from Brown (5:10). The Scarlet Raiders responded when Cross hit a trey to extend its lead to 56-51. The Brown and Gold buckled down and went on a 12-0 streak to take a 63-56 advantage (1:45). Peters had four points, while Brown and Hoffner each scored three and guard
Olivia Rulon (sr. Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) recorded two. Rutgers-Newark pressured the Profs scoring four straight points to trail, 63-60. Rowan locked down and converted four free throws to put the game out of reach and secure its victory.
Rowan struggled in the opening quarter as Rutgers-Newark pieced together back-to-back six points runs to take a 16-9 lead. The Scarlet Raiders kept the intensity high as they started the second stanza scoring the first two baskets to lead 21-9 at 8:23. Center
Ayanna Johnson (fr. Ewing, NJ/The Pennington School) cut the margin to single digits (21-13) after she hit back-to-back layups at 7:33. Rutgers-Newark claimed its largest lead of the game of 13 (30-17) when Hannah Ashby scored on a layup (3:05). The Profs retaliated late but trailed 33-22 at the halftime break.
The Brown and Gold brought the score to within one (35-34) in the third frame at 5:15. The Scarlet Raiders pulled away 46-34 after a 11-0 run with 41 seconds remaining in the quarter. Rulon nailed a jumper with 18 seconds left to set the score at 46-36 going into the fourth.
The women's basketball team heads back home to play Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.
