The opening-night victory also gave first-year Lady Raptors Head Coach Jean Gyurics her first win at Rutgers-Camden.
In the nightcap, host Lincoln edged Rosemont College, 62-59 in overtime, to set up Saturday’s tournament schedule. In the 1 p.m. consolation game, Washington College will face Rosemont College. The Lady Raptors will play host Lincoln in the title game at 3 p.m.
Oyola, a transfer from Cumberland County College making her Raptor debut, finished with a team-high 15 points. Her night was capped by the late-game layup, which came off a steal by junior guard Imani Hafiz (Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional), and gave the Raptors a 53-50 lead.
Rutgers-Camden had the ball with under a minute to play, but a steal and lay-up by Washington senior guard LaToya Turner (Chestertown, MD/Kent County) 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 and Washington junior guard Elise Conway (Silver Spring, MD/Paint Branch) missed a jumper long with seven seconds remaining. Rutgers-Camden freshman guard Alexis Culbreath (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) grabbed the rebound and was fouled 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.
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 Turner 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 by Hafiz with 9:36 left, put Rutgers-Camden up, 44-38.
Washington responded with an 11-2 run to take a 49-46 lead before the Raptors bounced back with their game-winning rally.
In addition to Oyola’s 15 points, 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 13. Conway notched a game-high 16 rebounds.
Rutgers-Camden shot 35.8% in the game, while Washington shot 31.3%. The two teams combined for 50 turnovers in the contest - 26 for Washington and 24 for Rutgers-Camden. The Shorewomen held a 49-43 advantage off the boards.
The tournament is named after the father of Lincoln University alum Tarron Richardson (’99). Richardson, the only player in school history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, ended his career with 1,512 points and 1,157 rebounds. Richardson’s father, James, was a faithful supporter of Lincoln University athletics, who died in 2003 after a brief battle with cancer.