JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University women's basketball and Rutgers University-Newark played a tight first half, separated by just four points before the Scarlet Raiders used three-point shooting to pull away in the third quarter and defeated NJCU, 60-45, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game on January 20 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
Rutgers-Newark (6-11, 2-8 NJAC) outscored NJCU 19-8 in the third quarter to snap a four-game losing streak. It was the Raiders' 12th straight win over NJCU (1-15, 0-10 NJAC, Lost 13).
 
In defeat, junior forward Ziyadah Williams (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) and sophomore center Sharaunda Fiedtkou (West Orange, NJ/Bayonne) each recorded career rebounding highs with 15 boards apiece.
 
Senior forward Deseree Johnson (Red Bank, NJ/Monmouth Regional) moved into sole possession of second place in school history with 90 three-pointers in 85 career games. She had a team-high 15 points, knocking down 4-of-11 from three-point distance with five rebounds and three steals.
 
RUN senior guard Arianna Williams (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) sizzled from three-point distance, knocking down 8-of-18 threes to finish with a game-high 25 points with nine rebounds (eight defensive) and four steals in a full 40 minutes. She missed all eight two-point attempts in the game but her eight three-pointers is the most by an NJCU opponent since the 2011-12 season.
 
Junior guard Maria Simmons (Irvington, NJ/Irvington), the NJAC's leader in assists and steals, had a near triple-double, finishing with 13 assists, 10 points (4-10 FG, 2-5 3FG) and seven rebounds in 34 minutes. The 13 assists are the most by an NJCU opponent since computerized records began tracking that information in 2000-01. Simmons had 12 assists in the first meeting between the clubs on November 24.
 
Also for RUN, junior guard Shala Glenn (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) added 11 points and sophomore guard Nicole Skelly (Belleville, NJ/Immaculate Conception) finished with eight points and eight rebounds (seven defensive) in a full 40 minutes.
 
For NJCU, Williams had 15 rebounds (12 defensive) and shot 4-of-6 for eight points in 38 minutes. Fiedtkou collected 15 rebounds (nine defensive) with eight points and three assists. Junior guard Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) tallied 10 points.
 
Key Moments:

• In the first quarter, NJCU and RUN were knotted at 4-4 before the Raiders used a 10-0 run to claim a 14-4 lead. RUN hit two three-pointers during the spurt and Glenn scored five points. The Raiders claimed its largest quarter lead (18-6, +12) when Williams hit a three with 3:23 to play before holding an eight-point advantage (20-12) at the end of the opening quarter.
• In the second stanza, the Raiders worked the lead back to 10 (26-16) when Simmons scored on a fast break (4:31). But NJCU clawed its way back into the game. A steal and fast break by freshman guard Christine Bizub (Fort Lee, NJ/Fort Lee) (3:30) and a jumper by Fiedtkou made it a 26-22 game. Simmons hit a three (29-22) before Johnson answered with her first points of the game with 34 seconds left—a three-pointer that made it a four-point game at the half (29-25) and pulled her into a second place tie in school history with 88 career threes in just her 85th game. Williams scored all nine of her first half points in the first quarter. Simmons had seven points, seven assists and five rebounds in the opening half and Skelly scored eight (3-5) in that span. Randall had eight first half points (2-5, 4-4 FT) while Fiedtkou seized eight rebounds (six defensive) with six points in the first 20 points.
• In the third quarter with 8:59 left, Johnson nailed a three from the left corner—the 89th of her career— to move into sole possession of second place in program history.
• Newark began pulling away in the third quarter behind the three-point shooting of Williams. She buried threes at the 8:16 (36-28) and 7:02 marks to make it 39-28. A straightaway three by Williams with 2:25 left extended the lead to a dozen (43-31). Simmons hit another three with under a minute left in the quarter for a 46-33 advantage and a jumper gave RUN a 48-33 lead after three periods. The Raiders would win by that 15-point margin.
• Williams' three from the left side with 7:05 left gave her 25 points and pushed the lead to 56-33 (+23)—the largest of the game.    .
• Johnson added her 90th and 91st career threes late in the fourth quarter.

 
#KnightNotes:

• 69 meeting. Rutgers-Newark has won the last 12 meetings and leads the all-time series, 48-21.
• Deseree Johnson (91 three pointers, 85 career games) surpassed former teammate Jade Medley with 88 threes in 98 games (2011-15) on the all-time list. The program record is 106 by Sandra Nunez in 93 games from 1998-2002.
• Ziyadah Williams' previous career rebounding high was 13 at St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) on January 2.
• Sharaunda Fiedtkou's career rebounding high was 12 on two occasions, most recently against Rutgers-Camden on January 13.
• The last individual to make eight three-pointers against NJCU was Arcadia University's Michaela Holleran on the road on January 9, 2012.
• Renee Clifford (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) played a career-high 14 minutes. Her previous high was 10 on two occasions.

 
What's Next?:
Weather permitting, NJCU will host Kean University on Saturday, January 23 at 7 p.m. in NJAC action. Kean won the first meeting of the season in Union, NJ on December 12, 79-30. It will be the 62nd meeting. Kean leads the all-time series, 49-12. In the first meeting this year, Kean forced 33 Gothic Knight turnovers, thanks to 23 steals, while only committing 14 giveaways itself. Kean held a 37-6 margin in points off giveaways. The Cougars held a 52-16 advantage in points in the paint, 20-2 on the fast break and got a 44-10 boost in bench scoring. The Cougars were led by 7-time NJAC Rookie of the Week Marajiah Bacon, who had 14 points (7-17 FG), six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Tori Schweyher scored 14 (4-10 FG). Sharaunda Fiedtkou had a game-high 10 rebounds with eight points. Follow live stats (http://sidearmstats.com/njcu/wbball/) or live video (https://www.youtube.com/user/NJCUGothicKnights/live).