PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Nov. 19, 2009) – Sophomore April Sykes (Starkville, Miss.) poured in a game-high 16 points as Rutgers women’s basketball registered a 59-53 win over Boston College on Thursday evening at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Sykes went 2-of-3 from three-point land and reached double figures for the second-straight game.
POSTGAME NOTES
Three-Straight From BC
RU moves to 13-8 all-time against BC, including an 8-2 record in front of their home crowd.
Starting Strong
This is the third-straight game that Rutgers has used the same starting lineup, boasting a 2-1 record with Rushdan, Ray, Sykes, Lee and Junaid.
April Showers
Missing her first ten from behind the arc, April Sykes hit two clutch threes for the Scarlet Knights. The sophomore shot 2-for-3 from long range and finished with 16 points.
Running the Show
Boston College went on a two-minute 10-0 run early on, but Rutgers responded with a 7-0 run, led Monique Oliver’s five points including back-to-back layups by the rookie. RU outscored BC 19-5 to end the half and went on 9-2 run to start the second half
Pressure Cooker
After applying the 55 press with 10:44 left in the first half, Rutgers held Boston College to just seven points before the break after the Eagles had scored 18 prior to that mark.
Twice for Sykes
April Sykes scored 16 for the game, her second-straight double figure game. This is the first time in her career Sykes has scored double digits in back-to-back contests.
Rays of Points
Brittany Ray tallied 10 points – the 30th double-digit effort of her career. The outing was the seventh time in the last eight games that Ray has scored 10-or-more points.
Leading the Rookies
Monique Oliver led all freshmen again with nine points on a three-for-six effort. She matched her career-high output against Stanford. The rookie also pulled down four boards and made two steals.
Cleaning the Glass
Khadijah Rushdan led the Scarlet Knights in rebounding for the second time this season. The guard tallied six both tonight and against Stanford.
POSTGAME QUOTES
C. Vivian Stringer
On April Sykes’ play
“People say (April Sykes) has unlimited range, and she does, but I think in order for her to get started we have got to drive to the basket and take mid-range jumpers, putting it down. Then I think she can expand her game. The three will come and she won’t even think she is taking them. Before, it seemed like she was making a conscious effort and she was off-balance. It was nice to see her shoot like that. She looked great, that was nice.”
On seeing where the team is at against an even opponent
“This is probably better for us - we get a better gauge of who we are. Boston College, early, was changing defenses and I was counting on us to be able to recognize that and act quickly and get into the offense. But we seemed not willing to want to accept that role, and it falls on Khadijah Rushdan, our point guard. I don’t intend for her to be our point guard, as she is now, but to come into a more shooting role, so we have a little bit more flexibility. It would have been nice for her to demonstrate that she recognized what they were doing by doing something just simple as dribbling and making a pass, which would have told her (the defense was) in zone. I was upset and I didn’t play her anymore in the first half. But then I thought Nikki Speed and Erica (Wheeler) got a chance, and they did a good job pushing the tempo and playing intense defense. It was clear that the ability to recognize is not what Erica can do right now. Nikki was playing off-guard and it didn’t make sense. We were drinking some slow water today before we could finally get on track. I was pleased to see the way D came back. I was happy with Erica and Nikki.”
Senior Brittany Ray
On trailing early on:
“We just talked (in the timeout) about making sure we were positive, and when you’re down on your home floor, try to get the crowd into it. We said we weren’t going to give up, that we didn’t want to disappoint ourselves or disappoint the coaches. (The coaches) work so hard on the scouting reports and everything. We just said stay positive, make sure we don’t lose the ball and play intense defense.”
On defensive pressure:
“That was definitely important. That is the thing that spurred our offense. I think we got a couple of steals and a couple layups off of our defensive pressure. I think that helped a lot. Especially, Myia McCurdy - one of our best defensive players. She comes off the bench and gives us the spark we need to play the defense we need to play.”
On Monique Oliver’s play:
“(Monique Oliver) is doing great. She is continuing to learn. She has been a tremendous help off the bench as well. I’m just extremely proud of Monique. We’ve still got a lot of work as a team and Monique is going to continue to learn, grow and develop.”
Sophomore Guard April Sykes
On hard work in the offseason:
“A lot of my hard work in the offseason was mental because I was out with my shoulder injury. We have a new attitude and it’s helping us this season tremendously. Every game is a new game and a new attitude.”
On shot selection:
“Sometimes, when I start off games, I worry too much about making shots instead of taking shots. I think starting inside and making my way out - like normal basketball players do - did a lot for my shot. I wasn’t thinking either. I was just going with the flow of the game.”
