Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Feb. 10, 2016) – Junior forward/center Caroline Santiago (Buena, NJ/Buena Regional) collected a double-double with a team-high 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds and the Rutgers University-Camden women's basketball team survived a late-game scare to defeat Rutgers University-Newark, 58-54, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Wednesday night.
 
The Scarlet Raptors improved to 13-9 overall and 8-8 in the NJAC, while the Scarlet Raiders fell to 7-16 and 3-13.
 
The victory gave Rutgers-Camden a sweep of the two-game season series, although Rutgers-Newark holds the all-time series lead at 35-27.
 
With Santiago leading the way, Rutgers-Camden led by as many as 10 points (32-22) in the opening half before holding a 32-24 lead at the break. By that time, Santiago already had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season. Sophomore guard/forward Cara Racobaldo (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic), meanwhile, had seven assists in the opening half to give her 231 for her career, passing Maureen McGovern (229 from 1994-99) for sixth place on the program's career list.
 
The Raptors reached another milestone in the first half as senior guard/forward Kamari Talley (Camden, NJ/Creative Arts) scored eight points to raise her season total past the 400 mark to 401. Sophomore forward/center Michelle Obasi (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic) also had eight first-half points for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
With senior guard Arianna Williams (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) leading the way, however, Rutgers-Newark stormed back into the game. Williams scored 19 of her game-high 29 points in the second half, including four during a nine-point run moments into the half that sliced the Raptors' lead to 34-33 with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter. Rutgers-Camden recovered on layups by Santiago and Talley to pad the margin back to five points, 38-33, and led, 42-37, entering the fourth quarter.
 
After the Scarlet Raptors scored the first points of the quarter on a jumper by Racobaldo, the Scarlet Raiders went on a 7-2 run, slicing their deficit to 46-44 with 4:03 remaining. Raptor freshman guard Gabby Greene (Howell, NJ/Howell) responded with a huge three-pointer and another jumper, and Talley hit back-to-back jumpers as Rutgers-Camden went on a nine-point run to open up a 55-44 lead with 2:05 remaining. The Scarlet Raiders responded with a 10-2 run of their own, slicing the margin to 57-54 on a trey by Williams with 25 seconds remaining, but Santiago tacked on the Scarlet Raptors' final point at the foul line to help Rutgers-Camden hang on.
 
Santiago finished with 17 points, two shy of her Raptor career high, and 16 rebounds, one shy of her career high. Talley, meanwhile, notched her 17th double-double in 19 games, collecting 14 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Racobaldo finished with nine assists, four points and six rebounds, while Obasi nearly gave the Raptors a third double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. She added three assists, three steals and one blocked shot.
 
Greene added 13 points for Rutgers-Camden.
 
Williams collected a double-double of her own with her 29 points, while adding 11 rebounds. Junior guard Maria Simmons (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) notched 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a game-high five steals for Newark.
 
Both teams return to action Saturday with conference games. Rutgers-Camden plays a 1 p.m. contest at Ramapo College, while Rutgers-Newark hosts Rowan University at 6 p.m.