Box Score Jan. 4, 2015

Final Stats

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The No. 16/17 Rutgers women's basketball team fell in its Big Ten home opener to No. 20 Iowa, 79-72, on Sunday afternoon at the RAC.

RU moves to an overall record of 10-4 and a mark of 1-2 in conference action. The Hawkeyes meanwhile improved to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten. It marked Iowa's fifth straight victory.

Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the Scarlet Knights with a game-high and season-high 22 points, while Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.)added in 20 points of her own. Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) paced the battle on the boards with 13 rebounds and was one point shy of registering a double-double, finishing with nine.

For Iowa, Melissa Dixon led the team with 21 points, including a total of six three-pointers in the win. Samantha Logic recorded 17 points, while Ally Disterhoft and Bethany Doolittle notched 14 points each.

The Scarlet Knights and Hawkeyes went wire to start the contest. Rutgers controlled the lead until Logic sunk one of the Hawkeye's five three-point field goals to put Iowa ahead, 11-10, at the 13:47 mark. Iowa would maintain control for the remainder of the half, paced by shooting 52 percent from the field, including a blistering 5-of-10 mark from downtown, and holding an edge by as many as eight points.

In the final minute of the first stanza, RU capitalized on trips to the charity stripe, going 5-for-6 at the line to bring the deficit within two. The late run was not enough to regain the advantage though as Iowa carried a 34-30 advantage into the half, marking only the second time this season that the Scarlet Knights have been behind entering the locker room.

Returning from the break, Rutgers found a spark outscoring Iowa, 10-4, to regain the lead, 40-38, with 17:37 on the clock. Unfortunately, Iowa would reclaim the lead on a three-pointer from Dixon on its next trip down the court.

With Iowa up, 54-52, with 12 minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights would hold the Hawkeyes scoreless for nearly three minutes. However, Iowa responded with a 13-6 run to create its largest lead of the night, 69-56, with 6:13 left on the clock. The Hawkeyes would maintain at least a seven point edge the rest of the way.

The Rutgers women's basketball team returns to the RAC to host Michigan on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on BTN Plus.

KNIGHT NOTES
- The starting lineup featured Rachel Hollivay, Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Syessence Davis and Betnijah Laney for the second consecutive game.
- With 22 points by Kahleah Copper and 20 points by Tyler Scaife, it marked the fourth game a pair of Scarlet Knight have dropped in 20 or more in a game. The last time two RU players reached 20 or more points was against Temple on Dec. 10.
- Copper set a new season-high with her 22 points. Her previous high was 20 in games at Wagner and at Temple. It marked Copper's 14th career game with 20 points or more.
- Copper now has 940 career points and is 60 points away from becoming the 35th Scarlet Knight to notch 1,000 career points.
- Scaife reached 20+ point scoring for the fifth time this season and 12th time in her career. She has reached double-figure scoring in 40 of her 51 Scarlet Knight appearances.
- Betnijah Laney narrowly missed out on her 11th double-double of the season with nine points and 13 rebounds.
- With her nine points, Laney moved into a tie for 29th on RU's all-time scoring leaders list with Patty Delehanty (1978-82). She now has 1,077 career points.
- With her 13 rebounds, Laney now has 733 career boards. She needs 13 to more to surpass LaTonya Johnson (1988-92) for 11th on RU's all-time rebounding leaders list.
- Laney led the Scarlet Knights in assists for the second time this year as she dished the ball out a season-high five times.
- Ariel Butts collected a career-high 10 rebounds. Her previous high this season was seven, last captured against No. 6 North Carolina while she surpassed her previous career mark of eight against Temple on Feb. 26, 2014.
- The Scarlet Knights won the battle on the glass, 41-34. RU led its opponents in rebounding in 13 of its 14 games played.
- Rachel Hollivay swatted away three Hawkeye shots, marking the sixth time this season and 29th time in her career she has captured three or more blocks. - The Scarlet Knights logged a season-low three steals. Syessence Davis registered two of the steals and now has 234 career thefts.
- RU shot a season best 88.9 percent from the free throw line going 16-of-18 from the charity stripe. Shrita Parker went a perfect 4-of-4 while Laney finished 5-of-6 and Copper went 6-of-7. Scaife also hit her lone attempt from the line.
- RU was behind at the half for the second straight game. The Scarlet Knights trailed 34-30 at the intermission. Rutgers has led at the half in 12 of its 14 contests.
- The Scarlet Knights fell to 1-3 against the top 25. - The 10 three-pointers by Iowa were a season-high for a Rutgers opponent. The previous high was nine as Northeastern and Wagner both collected nine made shots from long range.
- The Hawkeyes went 10-of-22 from downtown finishing at a 45.5 percent clip. It was the best three-point field goal percentage by a Scarlet Knight opponent this season. The previous high was .391 (9-of-22) by Northeastern on Nov. 18.

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