MONTCLAIR, N.J. (Feb. 20, 2021) – The Rutgers University-Camden Scarlet Raptors faced a tough assignment when the New Jersey Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championships opened with a quarterfinal game here Friday night.
 
The eighth-seeded Scarlet Raptors were paired against the top-seeded Montclair State University Red Hawks, who went undefeated during the brief NJAC regular season and lost only one non-conference game. The Raptors were playing short-handed with only five healthy players and hadn't competed in a game since Feb. 19, missing the final three scheduled contests when COVID-19 protocols and quarantines sidelined their scheduled opponents.
 
Facing those obstacles, Rutgers-Camden was eliminated from the NJAC playoffs, 101-37, to close its season at 0-6. Montclair State (7-1, including a perfect 7-0 against NJAC opponents) will host /#5 Kean University in a NJAC semifinal contest March 12. Kean defeated #4 Rutgers-Newark, 74-44, Friday.
 
The Red Hawks have won their last three games and 27 of their last 29 against Rutgers-Camden. Montclair State leads the all-time series, 47-17.
 
Montclair State led the entire game except for a brief 2-2 tie early in the opening quarter. By the end of that frame the Red Hawks had built a 24-7 lead and placed as many players in the scoring column as the Scarlet Raptors had points. Junior guard Trisha Peters notched eight first-quarter points to pace the balanced Montclair State attack, while sophomore forward Jalissa Pitts scored five of the Raptors' seven points.
 
The Red Hawks led, 44-13, at halftime with Peterson and senior guard Taylor Brown leading the attack with eight points apiece, while junior guard Julia Sutton added seven. Pitts notched seven first-half points for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
The Red Hawks' depth and talent, combined with Rutgers-Camden's lack of depth in the contest, wore down the Scarlet Raptors in the third quarter as Montclair State increased its lead to 78-17.
 
Sutton led 14 Red Hawks in the scoring column with 22 points, including a red-hot 6-for-7 shooting from three-point range. Brown dished off six assists, while senior forward Kayla Bush, junior guard Kelly Smith and sophomore forward Saniya Myers led the Red Hawks off the boards with six rebounds apiece. Montclair State held a 48-28 advantage off the glass and shot 40-for-73 (54.8 percent) from the floor.
 
Rutgers-Camden's hardy five players – Pitts, sophomore guards Abigail Sampona and Najee Seabrook, freshman guard Chloe Bennett and junior forward Tiazha Jackson – logged 40 minutes apiece. Pitts scored 21 points, while Bennett and Seabrook both added five. Pitts also added a game-high 10 rebounds to collect her second double-double of the season.
 
The Scarlet Raptors shot 14-for-55 (25.5) from the floor.