RIVERDALE, N.Y. (Jan. 3, 2013) – Guard/forward Brittany Turner (Belleville, NJ/Queen of Peace) scored a game-high 19 points and became the 11th player in Rutgers University-Camden women's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point milestone as the Scarlet Raptors defeated the College of Mount Saint Vincent, 74-48, in a non-conference game here Thursday night.
With their second straight victory, the Raptors evened their record at 5-5. The Dolphins fell to 4-5, snapping a two-game winning streak.
Turner's output raised her Rutgers-Camden scoring total to 1,004 and hiked her overall career mark to 1,061, including 57 points scored at Felician College during her freshman season. The grad student, in her senior season of eligibility, became the first Lady Raptor to reach the 1,000-point plateau since Megan Rulon, who scored 1,220 points from 2002-2006.
Rutgers-Camden never trailed in the game, scoring the first six points of the contest – four by Turner – and 15 of the first 17. The Scarlet Raptors led by as many as 19 points (32-13) in the first half on the way to a 40-23 halftime lead. Turner led the way with 13 first-half points to pull within two points of her Rutgers-Camden milestone, which she achieved with a pair of free throws 4:37 into the second half.
The Raptors shot 17-for-37 from the field in the opening half (.459), while holding Mount Saint Vincent to 9-for-25 (.360) shooting and forcing the Dolphins into 17 turnovers. Rutgers-Camden also held a 21-17 advantage off the boards at the break, led by eight rebounds from sophomore guard Lillian Chukwueze (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East).
In addition to Turner's 13 first-half points, junior center Tina Croxton (Deptford, NJ/Deptford) notched six, while Chukwueze and sophomore guard Alex Gravinese (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) both added five.
The Dolphins received six first-half points from junior guard Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln) and five from junior guard Andrea Sinaly (Middle Village, NY/Archbishop Molloy).
In addition to Turner's 19 points, she added five rebounds and a game-high five steals, one shy of her Raptor career high.
Gravinese finished with 16 points to tie her Rutgers-Camden career high set Nov. 15 against Cairn University, while sophomore guard Loretta Kelly (Wildwood Crest, NJ/Wildwood) tallied eight points and added five assists and a career-high six rebounds.
Chukwueze finished with a game-high 11 rebounds as the Scarlet Raptors held a 50-40 advantage off the boards. It was the fifth time this season that Chukwueze has produced double digits in rebounds. She also added seven points.
Croxton finished with six points while sophomore guard Monica Burch (Lawnside, NJ/Sterling), a transfer from Goldey Beacom College who was playing in her first game at Rutgers-Camden, finished with five rebounds, four assists, two points and one steal.
Rutgers-Camden shot 29-for-70 (.414) from the field, including 5-for-12 (.417) from three-point range. Mount Saint Vincent shot 16-for-59 (.271) from the field, including 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.
The Dolphins received a team-high nine points from Montague. Freshman forward Sinead Gooney (Bronx, NY/St. Catherine Academy) added eight points, while Sinaly contributed seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Kean University. Mount Saint Vincent plays a 5:30 p.m. game the same day when it hosts The College at Old Westbury.