Mahwah, NJ:  The Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers Newark defeated the Lady Roadrunner basketball team, 63-55 tonight at the Bradley Center in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up to improve to 9-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference.  The Roadrunners fall to 4-10 overall on the year, 0-8 in conference play.
 
Jade Howard led the Scarlet Raiders with a double-double including 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Arianna Williams collected 19 points of her own.  Maria Simmons recorded a double-double of her own with 12 points and 11 boards as the team hit a combined 23-72 (32%) in the win.  Simmons dished out a team-high five assists and Howard grabbed four steals. 
 
Ramapo got on the board first with a jump shot from Dejha Flood, and the Roadrunners pushed to a 6-1 lead with a basket from Jina Crawford, before Howard hit back-to-back baskets to close the gap to 5-6 with 13:12 on the clock.  The Roadrunners would push ahead by six, 14-8, with a jumper from Bintou Berete, but Rutgers Newark responded with a 10-1 run, capped off with a three-pointer from Nicole Skelly and a two-point goal from Adayshia McKinnon, to take the lead, 18-15 and force a Ramapo timeout with 6:59 remaining in the half.  Ramapo spent the next three minutes closing in on Rutgers Newark, finally regaining the lead, 21-20, at 4:08 with two free throws from Doris Ilic.  Ramapo would climb to a five-point, 27-22 lead with just 21 seconds to play, but a three-point goal from Williams with one tick left on the clock put the teams just two points apart with Ramapo leading, 27-25 at the halftime buzzer.  The Roadrunners shot 9-25 (36%) with Kellie Lane leading the way with seven points.  Rutgers Newark went 10-38 (26%) from the field, behind seven points each from Simmons and Howard.
 
The Roadrunners held the lead for the first five plus minutes of the second half until a three-pointer from Williams put Rutgers Newark on top, 35-34.  With the score tied at 38, Ramapo pushed to connect five straight points, including a three from Flood, to jump ahead 43-28 with 10:39 to go.  But Howard sparked an 11-0 run at 10:20, capped off by her own layup, to put the Scarlet Raiders ahead, 49-43 with 6:24 left on the clock.  The Roadrunners would push to come within two, 47-49 with 5:33 to play, and again at 4:07, 49-51, but it wasn't enough as the Scarlet Raiders stretched to an eight-point lead, 59-51, with a free throw from Simmons at 1:11, and again at the final buzzer, 63-55, with two more free throws from Simmons.  Howard sank 15 points in the final half and Williams added 13, as the team went 13-34 (38%).  Lane led the Roadrunners hitting 3-4 for eight points while the Roadrunners went 8-20 (40%) from the field.
 
Lane finished on top of all Roadrunners wrapping up the night with 15 points, while Kerrie Kosakowski collected nine points of her own.  The Roadrunners shot 17-45 (38%) in the loss.  Kosakowski dished out a team high four assists on the night.
 
The Roadrunners return to action on Saturday, January 17th when they host Rutgers Camden at 1pm at the Bradley Center.