NEWARK, N.J. (November 30, 2015) – Junior guard Maria Simmons tallied the first triple-double of her career to lead the Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team to an 82-65 win over Purchase College Monday night in The Golden Dome Arena.

Simmons needed just 26 minutes on the floor to record 17 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, putting together an excellent all-around performance to lead the Scarlet Raiders to their third win of the season and second straight (3-2 overall). Purchase falls to 0-5 with the loss.

Senior guard Arianna Williams hit five three-pointers en route to a 21-point and 10-steal double-double, grabbing six rebounds and handing out three of the team's 18 assists as well. Junior guard Shala Glenn had 17 points, five rebounds and two steals, while reserve forward Samantha Chirichello finished with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting and six rebounds. Sophomore guard Nicole Skelly had seven points, nine rebounds and three steals, while sophomore forward Nikki Sammartino added nine points, seven boards and a trio of thefts.

The Scarlet Raiders will look to make it three-straight wins overall and two in the conference when they welcome Montclair State University to Newark for a New Jersey Athletic Conference showdown in The Dome Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

In addition to the marvelous individual performances from Simmons and Williams, the Scarlet Raiders did a great job on the glass, finishing the game plus-25 after pulling down a season-high 57 rebounds (27 offensive). R-N shot 32-for-80 from the field (40 percent), taking 26 more shots than the Panthers. The Scarlet Raiders were 7-for-20 (35 percent) from distance and went 11-for-20 (55 percent) at the free-throw line.

Purchase finished the game at 35.2 percent (19-for-54) from the floor, 1-for-9 from three and 26-for-38 (68.4 percent) at the line. Amazingly, each team committed 28 turnovers in the game and a total of 53 fouls were whistled – 32 on Rutgers-Newark who saw three players foul out.

Junior forward Sierra Sangetti-Daniels led Purchase with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, and senior forward Elizabeth Osowiecki finished with 18 points and seven rebounds as a total of four Panthers were in double figures on the score sheet.

After taking a 40-35 lead into the locker room, Rutgers-Newark came out on fire in the third quarter, erupting on a 19-4 run that essentially sealed the win. Simmons and Williams assisted two Glenn buckets to start, and a big three-point play from Sammartino after her own offensive rebound helped the Scarlet Raiders to a 55-39 edge midway through the quarter. A Glenn layup and another Sammartino put-back expanded the host lead to 20 (59-39) and back-to-back scores from Skelly late in stanza gave Rutgers a 67-44 advantage with less than one minute on the clock. 

A three-pointer and layup from Williams early in the fourth quarter helped Rutgers to its largest lead of the night (26) at 72-46, and Purchase could get no closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Early in the action, the Scarlet Raiders used a 13-3 run to turn a 6-6 tie into a 19-9 lead with 3:32 left in the first quarter as Simmons, Glenn and Chirichello all had baskets. Purchase came back to get within seven after one, but a Williams three-pointer and a layup upped the R-N lead to a game-high 15 with 3:32 to play in the half. The Panthers – who had just seven players dressed – did a nice job clawing back, closing the half on a 15-5 run to get within five points at the break (40-35).

NOTE: Williams now has three double-doubles this season.

NOTE: Simmons has one double-double and one triple-double.

NOTE: Rutgers-Newark is currently looking to build a list of past triple-doubles in program history.