Newark, NJ (Nov. 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, leading the Scarlet Raiders to their third win of the season and second straight (3-2 overall). Purchase falls to 0-5 with the loss.
 
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 (Oneonta, NY) led Purchase with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, and senior forward Elizabeth Osowiecki (Franklin Square, NY) finished with 18 points and seven rebounds as a total of four Panthers were in double figures on the score sheet.
 
Juniors Allison Haugh (New City, NY) and Michelle Burke (Spring Valley, NY) also furthered the Panther offence with a combined 21 points and five assists. Haugh tallied 11 points, including 7-11 from the free-throw line, while Burke netted 10.
 
The Scarlet Raiders finished 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.
 
Senior guard Arianna Williams contributed to the home team effort with 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.

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).
 
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.
 
The Panthers return to their home court on Wednesday when they open Skyline play against the College of Mount Saint Vincent.
 
– Rutgers-Newark Sports Information contributed to this article