Box Score

EWING, N.J. – Junior guard Kamari Talley (Camden, NJ/Creative Arts) collected her second double-double in three games to lead the Rutgers University-Camden women's basketball team to its first victory over The College of New Jersey since 2004 as the Scarlet Raptors posted a 60-46 victory here Wednesday night in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
 
It was the third straight victory for the Scarlet Raptors, all coming in NJAC games, for their longest conference winning streak since the end of the 2002-03 season. That year they won their last five regular-season NJAC games (Feb. 8-22, 2003) and then swept their two conference playoff games to win the NJAC title and earn a trip to the first NCAA tournament by any team in school history.
 
Rutgers-Camden, which improves to 7-10 overall and 3-7 in the NJAC, also snapped a 22-game losing streak against TCNJ. The Lions, who now lead the all-time series, 54-8, hadn't lost to the Scarlet Raptors since a 64-62 decision in Camden Feb. 4, 2004. TCNJ won the first meeting of the teams this season, 52-50, in Camden Nov. 25.
 
TCNJ falls to 9-8 overall and 4-6 in the conference.
 
The Scarlet Raptors held a 26-22 halftime lead after an adventurous 20 minutes in which they grabbed a quick 12-3 lead, watched the Lions rally to tie the game at 20-20, and then bounced back to score six of the final eight points of the half.
 
Raptor freshman forward Michelle Obasi (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic) had eight points at the break, while Talley and senior guard Alex Gravinese (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) both had six. Talley also had seven rebounds in the opening half. For the Lions, junior guard Angelica Esposito (Lincroft, NJ/St. John Vianney) had seven points at halftime.
 
Talley, a transfer from Division I St. Francis University who was named the NJAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, finished with her second straight 20-point performance. After scoring her Raptor career high of 26 points at Ramapo College Saturday, she tallied 20 points against TCNJ and added her Rutgers-Camden career high of 14 rebounds to complete her double-double. Talley, who has played in only seven games since joining the Rutgers-Camden program on Dec. 30, also blocked her first shot as a Raptor and tied her highs with five steals and two assists.
 
Obasi, meanwhile, finished with 14 points and Gravinese had nine – all by shooting 3-for-8 from three-point range. The three treys gave her 142 for her three-year Raptor career, third on the all-time list and only five shy of tying Maureen McGovern (1994-99) for the program record. Megan Crank (1992-96) is second on the list with 146.
 
Senior guard/forward Irene Grimanis (Brooklawn, NJ/Gloucester) appeared in her 90th career game at Rutgers-Camden, becoming only the 13th player in program history to reach that plateau. Grimanis, who contributed 10 rebounds, six points and two steals, is ninth on the program's career rebounding list with 580.  She needs 49 rebounds to tie Michelle Riley (1996-00) for eighth place at 629.
 
Freshman guard Cara Racobaldo (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) added eight rebounds, four points, one steal and a game-high five assists.
 
For TCNJ, Esposito finished with 17 points.
 
The Scarlet Raptors shot 24-for-56 (42.9 percent) from the floor, while the Lions went 19-for-72 (26.4). Rutgers-Camden held a 52-41 advantage off the boards.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Saturday when they host William Paterson University in a 4 p.m. NJAC game.