Nov. 25, 2014 Final Stats
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.- Two Scarlet Knights reached the 20-point mark as the Rutgers women's basketball sailed to an 81-53 victory over the Wagner Seahawks Tuesday night at the Spiro Sport Center to improve to 4-0 on the season.
The Scarlet Knights, holders of the nation's current longest active women's basketball win streak, have won 10 straight games dating back to last season's WNIT championship run.
Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) poured in her fourth consecutive double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) added in 20 points to spoil the Seahawks home opener. Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) totaled 15 points, along with a career-tying seven rebounds and six assists. Bryiona Canty (Willingboro,N.J.) also contributed 11 points in the win.
The host Seahawks were able to create a 12-6 edge early in the game and led the Scarlet Knights, 18-4, with 10:16 remaining in the first half. From there, however, RU took a 13-0 run and never looked back. Rutgers muscled their way inside over the next four minutes for a 27-18 lead with 6:37 to go.
Wagner, who shot 7-13 from beyond the arc in the first half, pulled within six, 29-23, with 5:17 left until the half. As Jasmine Nwajei's three-pointer cut the Rutgers lead to 29-23, two minutes later the Scarlet Knights would claim a double-digit edge, one they would not relinquish the rest of the night.
Rachel Hollivay sunk two free throws with just over three minutes remaining to give RU a 10-point edge and double-digit lead the rest of the way. The Scarlet Knights entered the half with a 50-37 advantage.
The second half started with RU on an 8-0 run and by the midway point of the second half the Scarlet Knights had outscored the Seahawks, 20-6. Wagner, who had kept the game close in the first half on its three-point prowess, shot only 2-of-10 from three-point range in the second.
Natalie Parsons (Bountiful, Utah) helped the Scarlet Knights to the final 81-53 margin connecting on her first three-pointer of her career.
Rutgers controlled the paint scoring 50 of its 81 total points inside. Last season, the Scarlet Knights collected a season-high 52 points in the paint against Wagner.
Nwajei paced Wagner with 16 points. Lyndsay Rowe, who was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, finished with 13 points.
After two games on the road, Rutgers returns to the friendly confides of the RAC for a three-game homestand, which begins with Colgate on Friday, Nov. 28. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. EST.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- Starting line-up was Rachel Hollivay, Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Briyona Canty and Betnijah Laney. They are 2-0 with tonight's win and a 76-52 season opening win over St. Joseph's.
- Four finished the game in double figures. Four or more Scarlet Knights have reached double digits in the first four contests of the season.
- Betnijah Laney ended the game with 22 points and Kahleah Copper had 20 points in the victory. Last time two Scarlet Knights captured 20 or more points was in RU's WNIT win over Seton Hall on March, 27, 2014 with Tyler Scaife scoring a career-high 29 points and Copper netting 27.
- Betnijah Laney posted her fourth straight and 19th career double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She was two-points shy of her career-high - 24 points - last capture against Temple on Jan. 25, 2014.
- Laney led the Scarlet Knights in scoring for the first time this season after Tyler Scaife was the top scorer in the first three games. The senior Scarlet Knight has led RU in scoring 11 times in her career.
- Laney shot 10-of-14 from the field after opening the game a perfect 6-of-6. Her 10 field goals is a new career-high. Her previous high was nine last captured in last season's win over the Seahawks.
- Copper reached the 20 points mark for the first time in 2014-15 and 12th time in her career.
- Briyona Canty, who had 11 points, set a new career-high in steals with six. She surpassed her previous-high of four last recorded at Bowling Green in the WNIT on March 31, 2014.
- Tyler Scaife finished with 15 points and tied her career-high with seven rebounds, all coming on the defensive end, and six assists. Scaife also hauled in seven boards and dished the ball out six times in Rutgers' loss at Memphis on Jan. 14, 2014.
- RU trailed by six points on three occasions, tying for an opponent's largest lead of the season.
- RU hits the 80 point mark for the first time this season as Natalie Parsons connected on her first career three pointer. The Scarlet Knights last registered 80 points in the overtime WNIT victory over Seton Hall (91-97) on March, 27, 2014. Rutgers last notched 80 points in a non-overtime affair against UCF in a 90-50 win on Feb. 15, 2014.
- The Scarlet Knights had a season-high 50 points in the paint, the most since going inside for 52 last season against Wagner on Dec. 13, 2013 and UCF on Feb. 15, 2014. RU is currently averaging 39.5 points in the pain.
- Wagner committed 25 turnovers, the most by an RU opponent thus far in 2014-15. RU opponents are averaging 22.3 miscues per game.
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-RU-
