The City College of New York women's basketball team (0-3 Overall, 0-0 CUNYAC) are stills searching for their first victory of their 2010-2011 season after falling to the Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers-Newark University (4-0 Overall, 0-0 NJAC) by a score of 84-47 Tuesday evening at the Golden Dome in Newark, NJ.
CCNY's Taryn VanEsselstyn hit a free throw 14 seconds into the game to give her team a 1-0 lead, but it would be the last advantage the Beavers would have for the game as the Scarlet Raiders would put together an 11-0 run to grab an 11-1 lead with 14:58 remaining in the first half. The Beavers would keep things close, keeping the game within reach as they only trailed by five points – 21-16 with 4:52 remaining in the first session. The Scarlet Raiders would finish the half in strong fashion though, going on a 12-2 run to close out the stanza and take a 33-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half of action, Rutgers-Newark, which connected on just over 27 percent of its shots in the first half, shot lights-out in the second session, nailing 64.7 percent of its attempts from the floor (22-34) for the period to essentially run away from CCNY. The Scarlet Raiders built their lead up to as many as 43 points with just over five minutes remaining before holding on for a 37 point win. Following the game, Beaver coach Kevin Clifford gave his thoughts on his team's defeat.
"We battled for a majority of the first half, but after a number of the girls got into foul trouble, we really struggled to stay close," Clifford said. "Rutgers-Newark is an extremely aggressive team. They are athletic and they play very hard from the opening tap. We'll take some time to regroup from this one and get ready for St. Joseph's on Saturday afternoon."
Despite the loss for CCNY, Simone Tharkur recorded team-highs in points with nine and steals with three while also dishing a pair of assists. Syreeta Williams added eight points and five rebounds, and VanEsselstyn dropped in six points and snatched five rebounds.
In the victory for the Scarlet Raiders, Jasmine Daniels connected on six of her 10 shots from the floor and scored a game-high 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks, and Anthonia Ajumobi came off of the bench and scored 12 points and snatched nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Three other players scored in double figures for Rutgers-Newark, including Kristen Venning who netted 11 points, and Lori Nieves and ShaQuanna Mardhall who scored 10 apiece.
The Beavers will now take a break to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action on Saturday afternoon as the team will travel to Patchogue, NY to battle the Golden Eagles of St. Joseph's College of Long Island, with game-time scheduled for 4:00pm.