Box Score Nov. 28, 2015 Box Score
Paradise Jam All-Tournament Team members Scaife and Copper
ST. THOMAS, USVI - The Rutgers women's basketball team captured its third Paradise Jam title with a 54-43 victory over Green Bay for the championship. Senior Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) was voted the Tournament MVP and junior Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Scarlet Knights overcame an 11- point second quarter deficit to go undefeated at the Paradise Jam and improve to 5-2 on the year. RU leaves St. Thomas on a four-game win streak.
Green Bay, the 2015 Horizon League Champions, dropped to 3-2 overall.
Neither team shot particularly well to open the game. Rutgers started the contest going 1-of-6 from the floor, while Green Bay connected on just 2-of-11. Jessica Lindstrom knocked down a pair of three's over the final 1:06 to give the Phoenix a 13-7 edge after the first quarter of play.
Green Bay kicked off the second quarter with a 5-0 run to lead by 11. Scaife, who found Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) underneath the basket, stopped the drought as RU trailed 18-9 with 7:04 left until the half.
Kaili Lukan got into the lane to put Green Bay back on top by 11 with a 20-9 edge, but Rutgers would close out the final 6:24 of the half on a roll. The Scarlet Knights outscored the Phoenix 10-2 to end the second quarter, with eight of those points fueled by Copper.
At one point it appeared Green Bay would take a six-point edge into the half as Mariah Monke hit a three from the top of the arc as the halftime horn sounded. Upon review, however, the shot was ruled no good and Rutgers trailed only 22-19 at the break.
After the Phoenix came out of the half with six unanswered points for a nine-point, 28-19 lead, RU turned the tables with a 9-0 surge of its own, knotting the score at 28-28 with just under six minutes left in the third quarter.
Entering the fourth quarter, Green Bay held only a 35-34 advantage and would be outscored 20-8 in the game's final period.
Copper got to the line in the opening moments of the fourth quarter and knocked down two shots from the stripe to give Rutgers its first lead since the contest's first minute.
With score tied at 43-43 with 4:15 remaining, the Scarlet Knights would hold the Phoenix scoreless the rest of the way. With the Scarlet Knights in the bonus down the stretch, Rutgers shot 7-of-8 from the line and outscored Green Bay, 11-0, to end the game.
Copper finished the game with 20 points and was joined in double figures by Scaife with 17. The Phoenix were led by Lukan with 12 and Lindstrom with 11 points in the loss.
The Rutgers women's basketball team is back in action at #14/13 Florida State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 3. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- Rutgers captures its third Paradise Jam title also having won the championship in 2009 and 2004. The Scarlet Knights are 9-1 all-time in their four Paradise Jam appearances.
- Tournament MVP Kahleah Copper averaged 23.0 points and 7.7 rebounds during the tournament. She shot 27-of-43 (.628) from the floor.
- Other Scarlet Knights to earn Paradise Jam MVP honors were Brittany Ray (2009) and Michelle Campbell (2004).
- All-Tournament honoree Tyler Scaife averaged 11.3 points, 3.3 assists and shot a perfect 8-of-8 from the line.
- Copper moved past former teammate Betnijah Laney on the RU all-time scoring leaders list and became the 14th Scarlet Knight with over 1,400 career points. She currently has scored 1,411 points in her four season.
- Copper put has put away double figures in her last 18 contests dating back to last season, has led RU in scoring in five of the season's seven contests and 39 times in her career. She reached the 20+ point mark for the fourth time in 2015-16.
- Scaife went a perfect 6-of-6 from the line against the Phoenix. Copper also went 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
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