Box Score

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (Jan. 11, 2017) – Although the Rutgers University-Camden women's basketball team couldn't quite hand Montclair State University its first loss of the season, the Scarlet Raptors threw a major scare into one of the nation's top-ranked teams before the Red Hawks escaped with a 69-64 victory here Wednesday in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
 
The Red Hawks, ranked No. 8 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll and No. 11 in the WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll, improve to 14-0 overall and 7-0 in the NJAC. Rutgers-Camden falls to 9-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference.
 
Montclair State, which needed everything it got from a 28-12 run to end the first half, leads the all-time series, 41-15, and has won its last 21 games against the Scarlet Raptors. The last Raptor win came by a 74-56 score in Montclair on Feb. 12, 2003.
 
Trailing, 16-11, the Red Hawks closed out the first quarter with nine straight points, taking the lead for good on a layup by junior forward Yazmine Lacey (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) with 1:22 remaining in the quarter. By halftime, they had opened up a 39-28 advantage behind nine points from senior forward Sage Bennett (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township), seven from junior guard/forward Katie Sire (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) and six apiece from senior guard Rachel Krauss (Farmingdale, NJ/Colts Neck) and junior guard Katie Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ/Roselle Catholic).
 
The Scarlet Raptors received eight first-half points from junior guard Jovan Childers (Bridgeton, NJ/Bridgeton). Junior guard/forward Cara Racobaldo (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) and sophomore guard Gabby Greene (Howell, NJ/Howell) scored seven and six points, respectively, in the opening half
 
By the end of the third quarter, the Scarlet Raptors had trimmed their deficit to four points, at 50-46, when Childers scored on a layup with six seconds remaining. That set the stage for a wild fourth quarter in which Rutgers-Camden almost overcame a pair of 10-point deficits (60-50 and 63-53) in the closing minutes.
 
A three-pointer and a jumper by Childers cut the Raptors' gap to 63-58 and, after a Red Hawk foul shot, Childers' layup with 1:11 remaining made it a 64-60 game. After the Raptors rebounded a missed three-point attempt by the Red Hawks, sophomore guard Ariel Robinson (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) converted a layup with 25 seconds remaining to make it a 64-62 game.
 
Sire padded the Montclair State lead with a pair of foul shots one second later, but a layup by Childers with 20 seconds remaining sliced the gap to 66-64. Moments later, Sire hit another foul shot to make it a three-point game and the Raptors had a chance to tie, missing a three-point attempt, grabbing the rebound and then committing a turnover in trying for another trey.
 
Sire closed out the game with a pair of foul shots with five seconds remaining, giving her a team-high 17 points in the game. Tobie finished with 12 points, Krauss canned 11, Lacey netted 10 and Bennett added nine. Tobie completed her double-double with a game-high 11 assists.
 
Childers notched a game-high 23 points for the Scarlet Raptors, one shy of her Rutgers-Camden high, while also adding a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Racobaldo finished with 11 points and a team-high four assists, which hiked her career assist total to 302. She becomes only the fourth player in program history to pass the 300-assist plateau for her career. She also added a game-high four steals, allowing her to tie Carmen Zimmitt (2002-06) for sixth on the program's all-time list with 181 steals.
 
Robinson, meanwhile, added 10 points for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
Junior forward/center Michelle Obasi (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic) finished second on the team with six rebounds, giving her 478 for her career. She needs five more to tie Carmen Harvey (1997-99) for 12th on the program's career list.
 
Rutgers-Camden shot 25-for-67 (37.3 percent) from the floor, while Montclair State shot 43.4 (23-for-53). The Red Hawks out-rebounded the Scarlet Raptors, 42-39, but also made nine more turnovers (17-8).
 
Rutgers-Camden plays a 3 p.m. NJAC game at William Paterson University Saturday.