Newark, NJ – Junior guard
Janitza Aquino (Kearny, NJ, Kearny) drained the game-winning 3-point jumper with 35 seconds left as unbeaten and No. 3 Montclair State rallied from a 22-point second half deficit to post a 70-68 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over Rutgers-Newark in The Golden Dome.
Senior guard
Nicosia Henry (Bolingbrook, IL, Bolingbrook) netted 10 of her game-high 23 points and junior
Melissa Tobie (Elizabeth, NJ, Roselle Catholic) notched nine of her 19 as Montclair State used a 28-6 to erase a 21-point deficit in 11 minutes.
The unbeaten Red Hawks fell behind 55-33 with 14:15 left in the game when junior forward Jade Howard hit a jumper. A layup by Courtney Woodard put the Scarlet Raiders (3-3, NJAC 1-1) up 59-38 with 12:50 left before the Red Hawks (5-0, NJAC 3-0) preserved their 33-game regular season winning streak and their 22-game string of regular season wins in the conference by shutting down the Rutgers-Newark attack.
MSU gained its first lead of the game on a pair of free throws by Tobie which made it 66-65 with 1:50 remaining.
A trey by sophomore guard Arianna Williams put Rutgers-Newark ahead 68-66 with 1:37 left before Henry made the first of two free throws to make it a 1-point game.
Aquino snared a missed shot by the Raiders with 43 seconds left before dropping in the game-winning trey off of a feed by Tobie.
Rutgers-Newark got off three jump shots in the final 13 seconds but could not score the equalizer.
Senior guard ShaQuanna Marshall netted 19 of her 21 points in the opening half and Howard posted 10 of her 16 in the opening half when the Raiders constructed a 45-31 lead. Neither player scored during the final 13 minutes as three Rutgers-Newark starters, including Howard, fouled out and three others finished the game with four personals.
Henry and Tobie posted double-doubles for the Red Hawks while Marshall and Howard did the same for Rutgers-Newark.
Henry finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two assists while Tobie totaled 19 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Aquino knocked down three 3-point jumpers on her way to 13 points while junior guard
Jenny Malone (North Plainfield, NJ, Roselle Catholic) dished off a game-high seven assists while adding four points.
Marshall tallied 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Raiders while Howard added 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots before fouling out with 2:57 left. Junior guard Courtney Woodard came off the bench to contribute eight points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists.
The Red Hawks return to action on Saturday, December 7 as it travels to Mahwah, NJ to face Ramapo in a 1:00 pm matchup at the Bradley Center with the Roadrunners.
