Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Jan. 30, 2017) – With the season coming down to a precious few games in the race for a New Jersey Athletic Conference spot, the Rutgers University-Camden women's basketball team started one of its most demanding weeks of the schedule here Monday with the first of three rugged games.
 
The Scarlet Raptors passed their first test with flying colors.
 
Junior forward/center Michelle Obasi (Camden, NJ/Camden Catholic) collected a double-double of 18 rebounds and 14 points, including the 800th marker of her stellar career, to lift the Raptors to an 87-49 victory over NJAC power Kean University. Obasi added four steals, two blocked shots and a career-high six assists as the Scarlet Raptors improved to 13-7 overall and 7-6 in the NJAC.
 
Kean, which entered the contest only one game behind conference-leading Montclair State University, dropped to 13-7 overall and 10-3 in the NJAC, snapping a three-game winning streak.
 
The victory was only the Raptors' second in their last 23 games against Kean, which holds a 47-19 lead in the all-time series. The last Raptor win in that span was a 67-48 victory in Camden on Feb. 2, 2013.
 
Clinging to an 18-16 lead in the second quarter, the Scarlet Raptors rattled off 12 straight points to open up the game. Junior guard Jovan Childers (Bridgeton, NJ/Bridgeton) provided bookend three-pointers to open and close the run, which also included four points by senior center Caroline Santiago (Buena, NJ/Buena Regional) and two from sophomore guard Ariel Robinson (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic).
 
By halftime, the Scarlet Raptors had built a 36-22 lead, aided by 14 points from Childers and 12 rebounds from Obasi. Rutgers-Camden led by as many as 38 points twice in the final quarter, including the final margin.
 
Childers finished with a game-high 22 points, while sophomore guard Gabby Greene (Howell, NJ/Howell) nailed five more three-pointers on her way to 19 points. Greene hiked her season total to 71 treys, two shy of the program record set by Alex Gravinese during the 2014-15 campaign.
 
Obasi, meanwhile, had a huge performance at both ends of the court, including 13 defensive rebounds out of her 18 total. She now owns 540 career rebounds (10th on the all-time list) and increased her career scoring output to 805 points with the rest of this season and her senior year remaining.
 
Santiago finished with 12 points, while junior guard/forward Cara Racobaldo (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) added eight points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Ariel Robinson (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) added eight points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal in only 13 minutes of playing time.
 
Kean received 12 points apiece from senior guard Jaquetta Owens (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) and sophomore guard Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune). Freshman center De'Mean Bond (Paterson, NJ/John F. Kennedy) grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds and added two blocked shots.
 
The Scarlet Raptors limited Kean to only 17-for-70 (24.3 percent) shooting from the floor, including 2-for-22 (9.1) from three-point range. Rutgers-Camden shot 30-for-67 overall (44.8), including 8-for-17 (47.1) from three-point range. The Scarlet Raptors also held a 52-45 advantage off the boards.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC action Wednesday night when it hosts Stockton University at 6 p.m. It closes the week Saturday when it travels to Kean for a return visit with the Cougars.