NEWARK, N.J. (December 7, 2015) - Senior guard Arianna Williams scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to lead the Rutgers University-Newark women's basketball team to a hard-fought 55-43 non-conference win over Centenary College Monday night in The Golden Dome Arena.

The Scarlet Raiders improve to 4-4 with the win, while Centenary drops to 3-5.

Williams had a splendid all-around game, adding five assists and four steals to her third double-double of the season. Junior guard Maria Simmonsfinished with 19 points on just 14 shots, adding five assists, four rebounds and four steals to a nice all-around performance as well.

A defensive battle after a strong Cyclone start, Rutgers-Newark held the visitors to 26 percent (13-for-50) from the field and 28 percent (7-for-25) from deep. The Scarlet Raiders had 11 steals, 13 assists and committed a season-low 13 turnovers. R-N shot 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the field, 20 percent (5-for-25) from long range and just 10-for-21 at the line. The Cyclones ended the game with a 51-37 edge on the glass, but a swarming Rutgers defense forced Centenary into 28 turnovers.

The visiting Cyclones were able to take a brief lead (35-34) early in the fourth quarter, but the Scarlet Raiders quickly responded. Sophomore guard Nicole Skelly hit a jumper from the elbow thanks to an assist from Williams, and Williams recorded a steal in the backcourt that resulted in a pair for junior guard Shala Glenn to force a Cyclone timeout with 7:27 left in regulation.

Williams hit her fourth three-pointer of the game to help the Scarlet Raiders push the margin back to four (41-37), and a three-point play from Simmons after a nice pass from Williams upped the R-N lead to eight points with less than five minutes left.

Three free throws from junior guard Alexis Wilson cut the lead to five with 3:50 left, and the Cyclones' Nicole Cartaino made it a three-point game with a nice move underneath, but a huge three-pointer from Simmons put the Scarlet Raiders back up six and took back the momentum. On the ensuing possession, Simmons stole the ball in the paint and took it coast-to-coast to all but lock up the victory for Rutgers-Newark.

After Centenary jumped out to a 13-1 lead, the Scarlet Raiders closed the first quarter on a 14-0 run to take a 15-13 margin into the second. Williams started the rally with eight-straight points as the veteran drained two three-pointers and a runner in the lane. The run went to 10 unanswered with a reverse layup from Simmons who was able to beat the defense and drive down the lane for two moments before time expired.

Centenary scored 1:42 into the second to tie the game at 15, ending the 14-0 spurt for R-N and ending a span in which it did not score for 7:49 of action.

The Cyclones built a four-point lead at 22-18 with less than four minutes to play in the first half, but back-to-back baskets in the paint - one from Williams and one from senior forward Samantha Chirichello - pulled the Scarlet Raiders even and forced a Centenary timeout as the two teams went to the locker room with the scoreboard showing 24-23 in favor of the hosts. After the rough start, the Raider defense held Centenary to just 10 points over the final 16:09 of the first half.

Neither side created any separation in the third quarter as each team scored 10 points and made four field goals. Simmons was able to score the final three points of the stanza to send the Scarlet Raiders to the fourth with a 34-33 edge.

Skelly had eight points, five rebounds and two assists for R-N,

Rutgers-Newark will return to action Wednesday night when it hosts Kean University in a New Jersey Athletic Conference battle in The Golden Dome Arena. Tip-off it set for 6 p.m.