UNION, NJ (Jan. 11, 2025) – The Kean University women's basketball team broke open a tight game by outscoring Rutgers University-Camden, 25-15, in the fourth quarter to complete a comeback and defeat the Scarlet Raptors, 73-61, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday.
 
The Cougars, who were down 8-0 in the opening quarter and didn't take the lead until the end of the third quarter, improved to 6-8 overall and 3-4 in the NJAC. The Scarlet Raptors fell to 6-8 and 2-5.
 
Kean has won its last seven games against Rutgers-Camden and leads the all-time series, 57-23.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored the first eight points of the game on a layup by senior guard Rahzirah Blocker and back-to-back treys by freshman forward Courtney Edmundo and graduate forward Aiya Underwood. The Scarlet Raptors led, 23-11, after one quarter, but Kean stormed back with a 9-1 run at the end of the second quarter to cut its halftime deficit to 34-32.
 
The Cougars tied the game at 34-34 when Junior guard Maya Edwards scored on a layup to open the third quarter, but Rutgers-Camden countered with a trey by freshman guard Hope Goodwine. The Cougars tied the game at 46-46 with 27 seconds left in the third quarter on a jumper by junior center Kirsten Cloward. Kean took its first lead of the contest, 48-46, as time expired in the quarter on a pair of foul shots by graduate guard Brittany Graff.
 
After Rutgers-Camden tied the game, 48-48, on a layup by Edmundo to start the fourth quarter, Kean outscored the Raptors, 25-13, the rest of the way. The Cougars took the lead for good, 50-48, on a layup by Edwards, who led all scorers with 23 points.
 
Junior guard Erika Mercedes netted 15 points for the Cougars, while senior forward/center Maddison Vaughn scored 11 and Graff added 10 points, five assists and a game-high six steals. Freshman guard/forward Peyton Smith had eight rebounds.
 
Edmundo finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Blocker had a double-double of 17 points and 12 boards. The 17 points hiked her career total to 1,251, moving her into sixth place on the program's all-time scoring list. She passed the two-way tie at 1,240 points between Ta-Wanda Preston (1989-92) and Fatimah Williams (2016-20).
 
Goodwine finished with 14 points, a career-high nine rebounds and a game-high six assists, while Underwood scored eight points and added a career-high 12 rebounds.
 
Kean shot 24-for-67 (35.8 percent) from the floor, while Rutgers-Camden was 20-for-64 (31.3). The Cougars went 21-for-27 (77.8) from the foul line to the Raptors' 13-for-25 (52.0).
 
The Scarlet Raptors held a 52-41 advantage off the boards, but also committed 10 more turnovers (21-11).
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC action on Wednesday when it hosts New Jersey City University in a 3 p.m. NJAC game.