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Monday, December 5, 2005 By Mike Ballard RAPTOR OF THE WEEK Senior guard Carmen Zimmitt produced double-digit scoring outputs in all three of her women’s basketball games last week, capped by a career-high 24 points against Ramapo College Dec. 3 in a game where she also had a career-high seven steals. Zimmitt averaged 16.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.7 steals for the week, while also blocking two shots. She hit 12 of her 15 foul shots (80 percent) and is now shooting 82.4 percent (28-for-34) on the season from the charity stripe. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (2-4/0-3 NJAC) December UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Rutgers-Camden set a program record with a 72-point victory as it raced past Valley Forge Christian College in a non-conference game in Phoenixville, Pa. The Lady Raptors opened up a 41-12 halftime lead on the way to passing their previous record of a 71-point winning margin. That margin was accomplished twice in January, 1995 during a 95-24 victory over SUNY-Westbury (Jan. 4) and a 94-23 win over Lincoln University (Jan. 16). Senior center Megan Rulon (Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional) had a huge night with her first career triple-double, including a career-high 39 points, including 21 in the first half. Her previous high was 25, accomplished four times, most recently against Goucher College (Dec. 6, 2004). She also set career highs with 19 rebounds (breaking her old mark of 18, accomplished twice) and 11 blocked shots (topping her mark of 10 set against Wilkes Nov. 20, 2004). Rulon’s big night lifted her to 959 career points and into 10th place on the all-time program scoring list, passing Monica Cummings, who scored 945 points from 1981-83. In addition to Rulon, freshman forward Crystal Pezzano (Brockton, MA/Brockton) and senior guard Carmen Zimmitt (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown) each added 14 points, while sophomore guard Krystal Jankowski (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) added 12 points. Jankowski also set career highs with 15 rebounds and five assists and tied her highs with six steals and one blocked shot. Zimmitt tied her career highs with five steals and one block, while also adding nine rebounds. Pezzano, in her fourth collegiate game, added a career-high eight rebounds, tied her high with one assist and added her first blocked shot. The Lady Raptors also received 10 rebounds from sophomore guard Imani Hafiz (Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional), who tied her career high of eight steals set against Lincoln on Nov. 19. The 99 points were the most scored by Rutgers-Camden since a 115-58 victory over SUNY-Westbury on Jan. 6, 1997, which is the program record for points scored. In a conference loss at Rowan on Nov. 30, the Profs’ junior forward Lauren Byrne scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the second half and tied for game-high honors with 14 rebounds to power Rowan to a comeback win. The Profs rallied from a 33-26 halftime deficit. The Profs shot 16-for-33 (48.5 percent) from the field in the second half while outscoring the Lady Raptors, 41-23. Rutgers-Camden hit only seven of 30 shots (23.3 percent) in the second half. Rutgers-Camden built a 33-26 halftime lead on the strength of red-hot first-half shooting by Miriam Lindemann (Cherry Hill, NJ/Akiba Hebrew Academy). Lindemann hit all five of her field goal attempts, including four from three-point range, on her way to a career-high 14 points by halftime. Her shooting rallied the Raptors from a 26-20 deficit into their seven-point halftime lead. Rutgers-Camden extended its lead to 42-34 before Rowan mounted its comeback, scoring eight of the next nine points to cut its deficit to 43-42. Byrne and sophomore center Katie Shaw each collected four points in the Profs’ run. Rowan regained the lead at 46-45 on a layup by senior guard Sheemea Carr. After the Raptors grabbed the lead back on a layup by Zimmitt, the Profs took the lead for good, 48-47, on a jumper by senior guard Tracie Smith with 7:26 remaining. In addition to Byrne’s game-high 23 points, Carr added 16 for Rowan. Lindemann finished with a team- and career-high 21 points for Rutgers-Camden, including 5-for-6 shooting from three-point range. Her previous career high was nine points against Rutgers-Newark (Jan. 5, 2005). Rulon added 14 points, 11 rebounds and a game-high five blocked shots for the Raptors, lifting her career scoring output to 973 points. With 27 more points she will become the 10th player in program history to collect 1,000 for her career. She also owns 635 rebounds (sixth on the career list) and 240 blocks (second, 51 shy of the program record). Zimmitt finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Jankowski added six points, a team-high 14 rebounds and a team-high six assists. The Raptors finished the week by losing their home opener against Ramapo in another NJAC battle Dec. 3. Freshman guard Khiada Evans scored 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the field, and added 11 assists to power the Roadrunners. Evans had 18 points and six assists in the first half as the Roadrunners took a 43-31 halftime lead. Ramapo, which was never threatened after that, also received 14 points from sophomore center Alison Beller, while junior guard Kelly Bartz and junior guard Keona Palmer each added 10 points. Evans tied for game-high scoring honors with Rutgers-Camden’s Zimmitt, whose 24 points set a career high,. Her previous high was 23 against Kean Jan. 24, 2004. Evans also notched game-high honors with her 11 assists and had a team-high five steals. For the Raptors, Zimmitt added a team-high eight rebounds and game-high seven steals, passing her previous career high of five steals, which had been accomplished four times. Freshman guard Melissa Whitten (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester City) set highs for her short Lady Raptor career by adding 12 points and seven rebounds. Ramapo shot 54.5 percent from the field for the game (36-for-66), while Rutgers-Camden shot 39.2 (20-for-51). The Roadrunners also out-rebounded the Raptors, 42-32, led by 10 boards from senior center Alison Werkman. MEN’S BASKETBALL (1-5/0-3 NJAC) November December UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Rutgers-Camden didn’t fare as well in its two New Jersey Athletic Conference contests, dropping an 88-50 decision at Rowan University Nov. 30 and losing its home opener against Ramapo College, 104-58, Dec. 3. In its win over Valley Forge Christian, freshman guard Wayne Smalls (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) tallied a game- and career-high 33 points, while junior guard Dane Nicholson (Pleasantville/Holy Spirit) added 31 points for Rutgers-Camden. Smalls added eight assists for the Raptors and shot 14-for-26 from the field. Nicholson collected seven rebounds and was 11-for-22 from the field, including 8-for-12 from three-point range. Nicholson’s eight treys tied the school single-game record set by Doug Dreby against Montclair State (Feb. 19, 1994) and tied by Tyrone Rucker against John Jay (Jan. 12, 2004). Fantroyal passed his previous career highs of nine rebounds (vs. Arcadia Jan. 6, 2005) and five assists (against Albright Nov. 18, 2005). The Raptors’ total of 112 points was the fifth-highest output in program history and the most since a 118-112 win over William Paterson Feb. 22, 1988. The Raptors placed a fourth player in double figures as freshman forward Antoine Miller (Camden, NJ/Medical Arts) added 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Miller also had six assists. In the loss at Rowan, Profs junior guard Tim Bowser scored 15 points in the first half and sophomore guard Matt Byrnes added 11 on his way to a game-high 31. Rowan has won 38 of its last 39 games against Rutgers-Camden, including seven straight since a 64-58 Raptor win in Camden Nov. 28, 3002. The Profs have won 56 of their last 60 games against Rutgers-Camden, dating back through the 1968-69 season. Rowan hit 18 of its 38 first-half shots from the field (47.4 percent) in the opening half and then went 16-for-31 (51.6) in the second half on the way to shooting 49.3 percent (34-for-69) for the game. Rutgers-Camden, meanwhile, shot only 29.9 percent (20-for-67) for the game and the Scarlet Raptors were out-rebounded, 56-32. Byrnes went 12-for-28 from the field on his way to 31 points despite shooting only 4-for-15 from three-point range. He also added eight rebounds, one behind the game-high total of nine delivered by Bowser. The Profs also received a game-high 15 assists from senior guard Steve Thomas, who also added eight points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Billy Care added 11 points for Rowan, which placed nine players in the scoring column and had 12 players in the rebounding column. Rutgers-Camden received 20 points from Smalls, who also tied Miller for the team lead with seven rebounds and tied for the game-high lead with four steals. Nicholson collected 14 points for the Raptors to climb over the 600-point plateau for his career. The output gave him 610 points for his career. In their loss to Ramapo College, the Raptors saw why the Roadrunners are the defending NJAC champions. Ramapo placed four players in double figures and 13 players in the scoring column as they raced past Rutgers-Camden. The Roadrunners, ranked No. 24 in the d3hoops.com national Top 25 poll, have won 23 of their last 27 games against Rutgers-Camden, including seven straight. They lead the all-time series, 33-12. Ramapo, which built a 57-37 halftime lead, received a game-high 19 points from junior forward Todd Lowber, while freshman guard Timothy Wesley added 14. Junior center Rashawn Wilson notched 13 points and tied senior guard Quameir Harding and the Raptors’ Miller with a game-high nine rebounds. Harding also collected a game-high nine steals. Sophomore guard John Wojcik added 12 points for the Roadrunners, who shot 53.0 percent (44-for-83) from the field. Ramapo out-rebounded Rutgers-Camden, 51-32. For the Raptors, Smalls collected 18 points, while Nicholson added 11 to raise his career mark to 621. Photos of Raptors/Ramapo Boy's & Girl's Basketball by Hugh Tsung
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