UNION, NJ – Senior forward
Courtney Vacca recorded her 10th consecutive double-double, but league-leading Kean pressed its way to a 69-32 New Jersey Athletic Conference win in Harwood Arena.
Kean 69, Rutgers-Newark 32
Vacca, who now has 13 double-doubles on the season, pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and added 10 points while junior guard
Martyna Ruminska had three 3-point jumpers on her way to a team-high 11 points, but the Scarlet Raiders (7-11, NJAC 2-5) fell for the fourth straight time in conference play.
Senior guard Melissa Beyruti notched 14 of her game-high 16 points in the opening period when the Cougars (19-1, NJAC 8-0) used a 9-0 opening spurt to take control of the game.
A Ruminska trey trimmed the Kean lead to just 22-20 with 8:37 left in the half, but the Cougars limited Rutgers-Newark to just one free throw until the break to take a 33-21 lead. The Raiders committed 14 of their 30 turnovers in the opening half.
Sophomore guard
Jared Tactuk scored eight points, grabbed four rebounds and made a pair of steals for the Raiders while freshman forward
Keira Williams came off the bench to collect eight rebounds and help Rutgers-Newark construct a 45-43 edge on the boards.
But in the end, the Cougars’ talented 16-person roster and pressure were too much for the undermanned Raiders to handle. Kean, which has won 19 games in a row since a season-opening road loss to Division I Rutgers University, held the Raiders to a season low in points.
Rutgers-Newark hosts Ramapo in an NJAC doubleheader in The Golden Dome on Wednesday. The women tip off at 6 p.m. with the men’s game to follow at 8 o’clock.