Jan. 29, 2015 Box Score | VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference
WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. - The No. 22/23 Rutgers women's basketball team made it three straight with its 58-49 victory over Purdue Thursday night at the Mackey Arena. RU improved to 15-5 overall, 6-3 in Big Ten play and 9-1 on the road.
Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the Scarlet Knight scorers with 21 points and eight rebounds in the win. Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) followed with 18 points and 14 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season.
Purdue was led by Whitney Bays with 16 points and followed by Ashley Morrissette with 11 in the loss.
Rutgers opened the game with five uncontested points, holding Purdue scoreless after nearly five minutes of play.
The Boilermakers started off shooting 1-of-12 from the field, but managed an 11-0 run to tie the contest, 15-15, with 7:16 to go in the first half. RU, however, responded with seven straight points to reclaim the lead. Four of the Scarlet Knights' points came from the hands of Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.), who was playing with two fouls, but helped to give Rutgers a 22-15 advantage at the 5:02 minute mark.
The Scarlet Knights were able to carry a 26-22 advantage into halftime.
Returning from the locker room, Purdue used an 8-2 run to generate its first lead of the night, 30-28, three minutes into the second half. The Boilermakers would not hold the advantage for long as Copper drained eight straight points to put the Scarlet Knights back in front for good, 36-30, with 14:13 to go.
With 5:42 left in the game, a Laney hook beat the shot clock to give Rutgers back a double digit lead for the first time since midway through the first half. Despite another 8-2 run for Purdue to bring the count to 54-47 with 2:04 left, the Scarlet Knights would hold the Boilers to two free throws for its final two points of the night.
Up next, the Rutgers women's basketball team returns to the RAC to host its rematch with Penn State on Sunday, Feb. 1. The contest is set for a Noon tipoff on BTN.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Tonight's game will re-air at 11:30 p.m. on BTN.
- The starting five against Purdue were Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Syessence Davis, Christa Evans and Betnijah Laney. It was the second time this season the starting lineup was used. The last time was in RU's victory at Penn State on Jan. 10.
- With the win, C. Vivian Stringer has 175 wins in Big Ten play - 169 victories at Iowa and six wins at Rutgers. She needs one more win to tie former Penn State coach Rene Portland for the most wins in Big Ten action.
- Also with the win, Stringer improves to 424-211 all-time at Rutgers. She needs 10 more wins to surpass former head coach Theresa Grentz as RU's all-time winningest basketball coach.
- The Scarlet Knights improved to 9-1 on the road this season and have won three-straight away from the friendly confines of the RAC.
- Kahleah Copper poured in a game-high 21 points. It was her fifth 20+ point effort of the season and 16th of her career. Additionally, the junior forward led RU in scoring for the eighth time in the 20 games of 2014-15 and the 22nd time in her career.
- Copper's 21 points moved her into 33rd all-time at RU in scoring past former teammate Erica Wheeler (2009-12). Copper now has 1,036 career points and needs 16 more points to surpass Kristen Foley (1982-87) for 32nd all-time.
- Betnijah Laney posted her 13th double-double of the year and 28th of her career with 18 points and 14 rebounds. She shot 8-of-12 from the field and 11 of her 14 rebounds came on the defensive glass.
- With her 18 points, Laney now has 1,195 career points and needs 10 more points to surpass former teammate Monique Oliver (2009-13) for 24th all-time in scoring.
- With 14 rebounds, Laney moved into eighth all-time in rebounds at Rutgers, surpassing June Olkowski (1978-82). With 789 career rebounds, she now needs 46 boards to move into seventh all-time past Kathy Glutz (1976-80).
- Briyona Canty dished the ball out six times against the Boilermakers. She has made five or more assists 11 times this season and 18 times in her career. In the last three games, Canty has averaged 6.3 assists per game.
- Syessence Davis registered four steals and now has 255 career thefts. She needs three more steals to move past Vicky Picott (1987-91) for seventh all-time. - Purdue's 14 turnovers resulted in 22 Scarlet Knight points.
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