WBB Meets Seton Hall Monday Night on FS2
Nov 15 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers women's basketball meets Seton Hall in a rematch of the 2015 NCAA First Round and 2014 double overtime WNIT Third Round contests on Monday night at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange at 7 p.m. The game will air on Fox Sports 2 with Dave Popkin and LaChina Robinson on the call.
| Game Two: Rutgers (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) at Seton Hall (1-0, 0-0 Big East) | |
| Date | Monday, Nov. 16 |
| Time | 7:00 p.m. EST |
| Location | South Orange, N.J. | Walsh Gymnasium |
| TV | Fox Sports 2 (Dave Popkin & LaChina Robinson) |
| Radio | WCTC 1450 AM (Ralph Bednarczyk & Mark Peterson) WRSU 88.7 FM (Sean Griffin & Dominick Savino) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Seton Hall |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten | Big East |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Seton Hall |
KICKING OFF 2015
The Scarlet Knights opened up the 2015-16 season with a 78-65 road win at St. Joseph's on Friday evening. RU was led by a double-double effort by senior forward Kahleah Copper with a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds while junior guard Tyler Scaife added 24 points in the victory.
Monday's contest with the Pirates will be the second straight road game for the Scarlet Knights, who return home on Thursday for the 2015-16 home opener with St. John's, another former Big East opponent.
ALL-TIME RUTGERS WINNER
Head coach C. Vivian Stringer needs only two more wins to surpass Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, Theresa Grentz, as RU's all-time winningest women's basketball coach.
All-Time Rutgers WBB Coaching Records (By Wins)
Theresa Grentz - 434-150/ (1977-95) 19 seasons
C. Vivian Stringer - 433-216/(1995-present) 21 seasons
Ellen Johns - 6-5/(1974-75) One season
Dottie McCrea - 5-9/(1975-76) One season
ABOUT SETON HALL
Seton Hall is coming off a 28-6 overall record a season ago, winning the Big East regular season title and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they faced Rutgers in the first round.
The Pirates made their second-straight postseason appearance last year after reaching the third round of the WNIT, once again meeting the Scarlet Knights. RU prevailed 91-79 in a double overtime thriller enroute to the 2014 WNIT title.
Seton Hall's 28 wins in 2014-15 were a program best, which also included a 17-1 mark at Walsh Gymnasium.
The Pirates return eight letterwinners from last season's roster, but only one starter. The lone returning member of the starting five is Tabatha Richardson-Smith, a unanimous Preseason All-BIG EAST selection, who is currently ninth on Seton Hall's all-time scoring leaders list. Last season, she averaged 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
SHU is currently 1-0 on the season after opening with a 93-57 win over Bryant on Friday. Four Pirates were in double figures led by Richardson-Smith's 25 points. Former Scarlet Knight, Shakena Richardson, who transferred to Seton Hall from Florida State, added in 17, while Aleesha Powell contributed 14 points and Tiffany Jones collected 13 points in the win.
Seton Hall is led by Anthony Bozzella, who is in his third season with the Pirates and owns a 49-20 record at his alma mater.
LAST TIME VS. SETON HALL
The eighth-seeded Scarlet Knights knocked off ninth-seeded Seton Hall, 79-66, on March 21, 2015 to advance to the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Kahleah Copper and Tyler Scaife led the team with 21 points each. Betnijah Laney captured her 20th double-double of the year as she poured in 17 points in the victory, including a 4-of-6 effort from beyond the arc, along with 12 rebounds.
The Pirates were led by Tabatha Richardson-Smith with 18 points. Tiffany Jones added 17 points in the loss, while Janee Johnson contributed 12 points to wrap up the double-figure scorers. Rutgers opened the night with seven uncontested points, holding Seton Hall scoreless for nearly three minutes of play. The Pirates closed the gap with a three-point play followed by a three-pointer from Johnson to bring the score to 7-6.
However, the Scarlet Knights responded with back-to-back three pointers from Briyona Canty and Laney to extend their lead to 13-6 with 15:48 to go in the first half.
A 9-0 rally by Seton Hall midway through the opening stanza saw the Pirates take a brief lead. Richardson-Smith tied the game at 21-21 with 9:29 left in the first half and Jones followed with a layup just moments later to give the Pirates a two-point 23-21 edge.
The Pirates would not hold the lead for long as Rutgers countered with a 12-0 run across the next four minutes of action. The run had RU establish a 33-23 lead with 4:10 remaining to go until the intermission.
Rutgers took its largest lead of the night as Laney drained one of her four three-pointers and Scaife completed the traditional three-point play to give RU a 42-29 lead with 1:26 to go.
Despite a 7-0 from Seton Hall to close the half, RU remained in front, 42-36, heading into the locker room.
The Scarlet Knights jumped ahead, 49-37, at the start of the second half, holding at least an eight-point margin for the initial 13 minutes of the stanza.
With RU ahead 56-45, Seton Hall would have an 11-0 burst highlighted by two three-pointers from Johnson to tie the score at 56-56 with 9:14 remaining. Scaife responded by knocking in her 1000th career point to return the lead to Rutgers for good.
The Scarlet Knights and Pirates went wire-to-wire for the remaining minutes of the contest. Seton Hall managed to pull within one at 64-63 with 5:05 on the clock, however Laney punched back with another from beyond the arc to deny the comeback.
LOOKING AT THE THREE
The members of the Scarlet Knights took working on three-pointers seriously over the summer, which resulted in RU knocking down eight shots from downtown in the season opener at St. Joseph's on Nov. 13.
Last season, RU ranked last in the Big Ten and was 343 of 348 Division I schools in three-point field goals per game. In 2014-14, RU was 75-of-237 from three-point range and shot at a .316 clip from beyond the arc.
Rutgers kicked off this season going 8-of-12 from downtown for .644 percentage from three-point range against St. Joseph's.
3pt FG Made in Game Since 2002-03
| 1. | 12 - at DePaul - December 7, 2006 |
| 2. | 10 - Kean - December 15, 2010 10 - Seton Hall - March 7, 2009 10 - Syracuse - March 1, 2008 10 - at LSU - April 1, 2007 10 - Florida - November 28, 2006 |
| 3. | 9 - Louisville - January 14, 2012 9 - Robert Morris - March 22, 2008 9 - vs. Cincinnati - February 3, 2007 |
| 4. | 8 - at St. Joseph's - November 13, 2015 8 - USF - February 26, 2013 8 - Iona - December 18, 2011 8 - at UConn - March 7, 2011 8 - at Marquette - February 19, 2011 8 - St. John's - January 5, 2008 8 - Michigan State - March 20, 2007 8 - North Florida - November 25, 2005 8 - Princeton - December 8, 2004 |
PASSING THE TORCH
Last season Betnijah Laney was Rutgers' double-double machine posting 20 double-digit scoring and rebounding games.
This season, returning leading scorer Kahleah Copper has picked up right where Laney left off. Copper poured in a career-high 30 points and hauled in 10 rebounds for the first RU double-double of the year and Copper's sixth of her career.
Copper surpassed her previous career bench mark of 27 points set in the third round WNIT game against Monday's opponent, Seton Hall, in 2014. Additionally it was the 23rd time the senior Scarlet Knight added in 20 or more points in a contest.
Copper's 10 rebounds also marked her sixth double-digit rebounding effort of her four seasons "On the Banks".
UP NEXT
The Rutgers women's basketball team returns home on Thursday, November 19 for the 2015-16 home opener with St. John's, another former Big East opponent, at 7 p.m. The game will be available on BTN Plus with Lou Brogno and Julianne Viani on the call.
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWBB), Twitter (www.twitter.com/RutgersWBB) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/RutgersWBB) for all of the latest news and updates. Fans also receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on both social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.
-RU-
