Box Score
Newark, N.J.— The John Jay College women's basketball team was defeated by Rutgers-Newark 79-56 on Saturday evening at the Rutgers-Newark Golden Dome.
The Bloodhounds were paced by
Jessica Lirio (Bronx, NY, St. Barnabas)who knocked in a career-high 27 points in the contest, while fellow teammate
Claire Prince (Wellington, FL, Summit Christian Academy) chipped in with 12 points for the Bloodhounds.
Shantel Rodriguez grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for John Jay, who were playing without leading scorer
Dominique Grice and leading rebounder
Chantelle Smith.
The host Scarlet-Raiders led from start to finish. They gradually pulled away and led by as much as 16 in the first half and led 39-23 at halftime.
Rutgers-Newark opened play in the second half on an 8-4 run to go up by 20 as the Scarlet-Raiders led 47-27 with 16:58 to go.
John Jay cut into the lead with a 6-0 run to pull to within 14.
Crystal Ferguson (Brooklyn, NY, Greater New York Academy) knocked down a three point field goal, then Lirio knocked down a two pointer and later made 1-of-2 from the foul line to pull to within 14 as the Bloodhounds trailed 47-33 with 15:05 to play.
But Rutgers-Newark scored the next five points to claim a 19-point lead.
John Jay got to within 14 once more and were down 53-39 with 11:37 to go on a three point field goal by Lirio.
But the Scarlet-Raiders kept the Bloodhounds at arms length distance the rest of the way. Rutgers-Newark led by 22 with 6:57 to play, before John Jay took another run at the lead.
Down 68-46, the Bloodhounds went on an 8-1 run to pull to within 15 and John Jay was down 69-54 with 5:07 to play capped on a continuation three pointer by Lirio.
But the hosts put the game away with a 10-0 spurt to take their biggest lead of the night, 25, and Rutgers-Newark led 79-54 with 29 seconds left before picking up the 23-point win.
Rutgers-Newark was led by
Courtney Vacca with a team-high 26 points and game-high 11 rebounds.
Martyna Ruminska added 25 for Rutgers-Newark, while
Jared Tactuk added 20.
John Jay returns to action on Wed. Dec. 30 for a home contest against Simmons College at 2 p.m.
