The women's basketball team suffered a season-opening 73-66 loss in overtime to Rutgers-Newark on Monday night in Newark, New Jersey.

The Bearcats struggled shooting 27.4 percent (23-for-84) and allowed their opponent to score six of the first eight points of the overtime en route to the victory.

The visiting Bearcats led by 13 points (45-32) on a 3-pointer by Veronica Ganziwith 14:42 left, but the Scarlet Raiders slowly chipped away at the deficit until a layup by Jade Howard tied the game at 52 with 6:54 remaining as part of a 20-7 run.

The Scarlet Raiders would later manage to take the lead by as much as five points (60-55) with 2:44 left, but the Bearcats battled back to tie the game and force overtime.

Iyana Abramshit a free throw and followed with a layup to cut the score to 60-59, but Howard scored another layup with 53 seconds left to lift the home team back up to 62-59. Ganzi then hit a clutch 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to tie the game at 62, which stood as the score at the end of regulation.

The Bearcats missed eight of their nine shots in overtime to dig themselves into the disappointing loss.

Sheridan Taylorled the team with a double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and one blocked shot. Abrams nearly had a double-double with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Ganzi (11 pts, 2 stls), Francess Henry(nine pts, 13 rbs) and Vanessa Santana(eight points) rounded out the top team scorers this evening.

Rutgers-Newark finished shooting 44.4 percent (28-for-63) with Howard leading the way with 24 points and eight rebounds.

The Bearcats will return to action Saturday as they will compete in the Amherst Tip-Off with an 8:00 pm contest versus Farmingdale State.