NEWARK, N.J (Feb. 8, 2020) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team scored the first 12 points of the game and went on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 51-45, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday night.
 
Rutgers-Newark's Scarlet Raiders improve to 4-18 overall and 2-13 in the conference, earning a split in their season series against Rutgers-Camden. The visiting Scarlet Raptors fall to 11-11 overall and 4-11 in the NJAC.
 
Newark leads the all-time series, 40-31.
 
The Scarlet Raiders took an early 12-0 lead while holding the Raptors to 0-for-12 shooting from the floor and five turnovers over that span. Freshman Jalissa Pitts finally broke the scoring ice for Rutgers-Camden when she hit a jumper with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter. By the end of the frame, Newark held a 17-5 lead.
 
Rutgers-Camden flipped the switch in the second quarter, scoring the first nine points of the frame to cut the gap to 17-14. That run included three points apiece by freshman guard Taylor Martin, freshman center Kayla Newton and junior guard Shane Holmes.
 
By halftime, the Scarlet Raiders led, 22-16, led by six points apiece from senior center Comfort Akinbo and sophomore guard Elisha India Cross. Martin scored six points in the first half to pace the Scarlet Raptors.
 
The Scarlet Raptors cut their deficit to 22-21 early in the third quarter on a jumper by senior guard Fatimah Williams, but never came closer than three points the rest of the way.
 
Sophomore guard Syncere Lambert paced Rutgers-Newark with 12 points, while senior guard/forward Hannah Ashby had a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds. Akinbo added 11 points, while Cross finished with 10 points and a game-high four steals.
 
Holmes led all scorers with 18 points for Rutgers-Camden, while adding three steals, three assists and a career-high eight rebounds. Pitts scored eight points and had a game- and career-high 14 rebounds, while adding three assists. Martin canned nine points.
 
Rutgers-Camden shot only 15-for-62 (24.2 percent) from the floor, while Rutgers-Newark was only slightly better at 13-for-48 (27.1). The Scarlet Raiders held a 46-42 edge off the boards and were 20-for-28 (71.4) from the line, while the Raptors were 6-for-16 (37.5) from the charity stripe.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC action on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. game at Ramapo College.