November 17, 2006
Scarlet Raptors Nip WC, 53-52
Rutgers-Camden Prevails in Season Opener

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA – Rutgers-Camden gritted out a 53-52 win over Washington College in the women's basketball season opener for both schools tonight at the James A. Richardson Memorial Tournament, hosted by Lincoln University. The Scarlet Raptors advance to tomorrow's tournament championship game against either Rosemont or Lincoln at 3:00 p.m., while the Shorewomen will play in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.

Rutgers-Camden held an 18-10 lead with 6:38 left in the first half before the Shorewomen closed the period on an 18-6 run to take a 28-24 lead at the break. Each team committed 14 turnovers in the first half, but Washington held a 23-16 advantage on the boards in the period, including a 12-6 edge on the offensive end.

The Shorewomen extended the lead to 32-24 on fast-break lay-ups by senior guard LaToya Turner (Chestertown, MD/Kent County) and junior forward Brenda Lucas (New London, PA/Avon Grove) with 18:10 left in the second, but a 20-6 Scarlet Raptor run, capped off by a jumper from Imani Hafiz with 9:36 left put Rutgers-Camden up, 44-38.

Washington responded with an 11-2 run as two free throws by sophomore guard Brianne Slizofski (Collegeville, PA/St. Pius X) gave the Shorewomen a 49-46 lead. Washington maintained a lead until Krystal Jankowski made a lay-up with 3:22 to play to give the Scarlet Raptors a 51-50 advantage. A steal by Hafiz led to a lay-up by Carmen Oyola with 1:28 remaining and pushed the lead to 53-50.

Rutgers-Camden had the ball with under a minute to play, but a steal and lay-up by Turner cut the deficit to 53-52 with 20 seconds remaining. Rutgers-Camden turned the ball over in the backcourt following a timeout with 19 seconds left when Hafiz ran out of bounds and then back in to catch a pass. Junior guard Elise Conway (Silver Spring, MD/Paint Branch) shot a jumper long with seven seconds left and Alexis Culbreath grabbed the rebound and was followed with three seconds to go. Culbreath missed both free throws, but time expired before anyone could control the rebound and the Scarlet Raptors held on for the win.

Oyola led Rutgers-Camden with 15 points, while Hafiz finished with 10 points and a game-high five steals. Jankowski tallied six points and a team-best 11 rebounds.

Turner led all scorers with 16 points for the Shorewomen, while freshman guard Jane O'Donnell (Cape May Court House, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) scored all 13 of her points in the first half and dished out a game-high four assists. Conway brought down a career-best and game-high 16 rebounds in the loss, eight in each half.

Rutgers-Camden shot 36% in the game, while Washington shot 31%. The two teams combined for 50 turnovers in the contest - 26 for Washington and 24 for Rutgers-Camden. The Shorewomen maintained a 49-43 advantage on the boards in the game.

BOX SCORE