Box Score Nov. 18, 2014 Final Stats
PISCATAWAY, N.J. v- Led by double-double efforts from junior guard Briyona Canty (Willingboro, N.J.) and senior forward Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.), Rutgers rolled to a 74-60 victory over Northeastern on Tuesday night at the RAC.
Rutgers improved to 2-0 and improves its win-streak to eight games dating back to last season's WNIT championship run.
A total of five Scarlet Knights concluded the game in double figures. Freshman Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) paced the squad with 15 points, while Laney recorded her 17th career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Canty had her second double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. Juniors Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) also added to count, notching 10 points apiece.
Northeastern jumped to an early 7-4 lead to start the contest, holding Rutgers scoreless for nearly a three-minute span. With the Huskies ahead, 12-6, five minutes into the contest, Laney drained a jumper to end RU's drought as the Scarlet Knights would go on to take a 12-0 run and take over the lead for good.
Huskie Samantha DeFreese ended the drought for her squad with two free throws, but junior Cynthia Hernandez (Ventura, Calif.) responded by coming off the bench to sink her first collegiate three-pointer to give RU a 23-14 advantage with 5:50 remaining in the first half.
Three-point shooting kept the game close late in the first half. Back-to-back three-pointers from Tiffany Montagne and Samantha DeFreese saw RU lead by only two, 27-25, with under three minutes remaining in first stanza. Rutgers, however, put a halt to Northeastern's momentum, holding the Huskies scoreless over the final 2:47 of the half and entered the locker room ahead, 35-25.
RU's 10-point halftime lead was turned into a 20-point advantage by the mid-way point of the second half. Rutgers used a 17-4 run with six different Scarlet Knights getting into the scoring mix, capped by senior Syessence Davis (Neptune, N.J.) drilling a three, for its largest lead of the night, a 64-36 edge with 8:25 to go.
Northeastern used three-point shooting and free throws to minimize its deficit to 14 by the game's final horn. The Huskies, who shot 9-of-23 from three-point range on the night, went 2-of-5 from beyond the arc and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the game's final five minutes.
Montagne led the Huskies in registering a game-high 22 points.
Rutgers returns to action facing its first road test of the season at LSU on Saturday, Nov. 22. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. EST.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Starting line-up consisted of Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Briyona Canty, Ariel Butts and Betnijah Laney.
- The Scarlet Knights finished with five in double figures, including Betnijah Laney and Briyona Canty with double-doubles. Rutgers last had five Scarlet Knights in double figures in its win over Wagner on Dec. 20, 2013.
- Betnijah Laney and Briyona Canty are the first Scarlet Knight duo since Rachel Hollivay (26 pts, 13 reb.) and Kahleah Copper (23 pts, 13 reb) against Howard on Nov. 22, 2013 to have two double-doubles in a game.
- Tyler Scaife once again led RU in scoring with 15 points going 7-of-15 from the floor. Scaife has led the Scarlet Knights in scoring for four-straight games dating back to last season's WNIT run. She now has led Rutgers in scoring 15 times and notched double figure scoring in 30 contests.
- Betnijah Laney posted her 17th career double-double with 14 points and 13 boards. She shot 6-of-11 from the field.
- Briyona Canty collected her second career double-double with 12 points and a new career-high 10 assists. She also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against USF in the semifinal of the WNIT.
- It was the first double digit assist game for a Scarlet Knight since Syessence Davis dished out the ball 10 times against Providence on Jan. 16, 2013. She reset her career mark in assist for the second straight game after handing the ball out eight times in RU's season opening win over St. Joseph's.
- Rachel Hollivay contributed 10 points from off the bench with a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the floor and 2-of-2 effort from the line.
- Kahleah Copper added in 10 points along with four assists and five rebounds.
- RU once again dominated the paint for the second straight contest with 36 points. The Scarlet Knights have now scored 30 or more points in 28 of their last 39 contests.
- The Scarlet Knights handed out the ball 23 times against the Huskies, the most by the team since dishing the ball out 23 times in a 90-50 win over UCF on Feb. 15, 2014.
- The Rutgers bench outscored the Northeastern bench, 23-0.
- RU also collected 20+ points off of turnovers for the second straight game. The Scarlet Knights helped to force 22 turnovers resulting in 23 points.
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