WBB Begins Five Game Homestand with Arkansas
Dec 04 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team is back home to begin a five game homestand to close out the month of December starting on Sunday at 2 p.m. with Arkansas. First 500 fans will receive a free Rutgers Big Ten t-shirt at the door.
| Game Nine: Rutgers (5-3, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. Arkansas (2-5, 0-0 SEC) | |
| Date | Sunday, Dec. 6 |
| Time | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Location | The RAC | Piscataway, N.J. |
| Video | BTN Plus (Lou Brogno & Cathy Andruzzi) |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM (Ralph Bednarczyk & Mark Peterson) WRSU 88.7 FM (Danny Friedman & Lance Glinn) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Arkansas |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten | SEC |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Arkansas |
| Tickets | ScarletKnights.com/Tickets |
| Promotions | Rutgers Big Ten T-Shirts for First 500 Fans |
HOME SWEET HOME
The Rutgers women's basketball team is back home after spending the last four games on the road with trips to the Paradise Jam and Florida State. The Scarlet Knights open a five-game homestand on Sunday against Arkansas and along the way will meet Iona, MEAC Champions Savannah State, NCAA at-large selection LSU and culminate with the Big Ten opener against Minnesota.
RU is coming off a 65-43 setback to No. 13/14 Florida State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, a loss which snapped a four-game Scarlet Knight win streak. Junior guard Tyler Scaife was the lone Scarlet Knight in double digits with 10 points.
On the boards against the Seminoles, senior forward Ariel Butts grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Shrita Parker and freshman forward Victoria Harris each pulled in a career-high six boards.
Head coach C. Vivian Stringer will be honored for becoming the all-time victories leader in basketball at Rutgers and Tyler Scaife will be presented her 1,000 career point game ball prior to tip. The first 500 fans entering the RAC for Sunday's contest with the Razorbacks will also receive a free Rutgers t-shirt.
ABOUT ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks make the trip to New Jersey with a 2-5 overall record and looking to snap a five-game losing streak. Arkansas opened the season with wins over Southeastern Louisiana (97-53) and Sam Houston State (67-47), but has since dropped five straight. More recently the Razorback fell, 69-54, to Missouri State on Wednesday night.
Jessica Jackson leads Arkansas at 17.6 points per game and 8.0 rebounds. She is the only Razorback averaging double digits.
Kelsey Brooks follows on the stat sheet at 8.9 points per contest and is followed by Jordan Danberry at 7.7 points per game.
Last season the Razorbacks finished at 18-14 overall, including a 6-10 mark in SEC play. Arkansas reached the SEC Tournament quarterfinals and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament defeating the Big Ten's Northwestern, 57-55, before bowing out to Baylor, 73-44.
LAST TIME ARKANSAS
The No. 18 Rutgers women's basketball team defeated No. 25 Arkansas, 64-52, on Sunday, Dec. 7 at Bud Walton Arena.
Kahleah Copper led all scorers with 17 points, while Betnijah Laney captured her eight straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Playing in front of family and friends, Little Rock, Arkansas native, Tyler Scaife, had 13 points. Rachel Hollivay rounded out the Scarlet Knight double figure scorers with 13.
Arkansas' Jessica Jackson led her team with 14 points. She started off hot with 11 points going 5-of-6 from the floor to open the game, but was unable to convert a field goal over the final 11:21 of the first half and managed just three second-half points. Jhasmin Bowen contributed 13 in the loss, while Melissa Wolff and Kelsey Brooks each had 11.
After a Jackson three-pointer put the Razorbacks up, 9-8, five minutes into the contest, Rutgers outscored Arkansas 5-1 over the next three minutes to control the lead the rest of the game. The Razorbacks were able to pull within two at 18-16 with 8:50 remaining in the half off of two Bowen free throws. The Scarlet Knights would close out the stanza outscoring Arkansas 16-8. Rutgers led 36-24 at the half.
The Scarlet Knights pushed their lead to as many as 14 in the early moments of the second half, but the Razorbacks would cut it to single digits by the midway point. During a span of seven minutes, Arkansas outscored Rutgers 12-4 as Brooks capped the run scoring on a layup with 11:39 remaining, cutting Rutgers' edge to 47-43. RU responded with a scoring burst of its own going on a 15-5 run over the following five minutes. Copper connected on two free throws to give Rutgers its biggest lead, 58-42, with 6:29 left. RU would maintain a double digit advantage to close the contest with a final score of 64-52.
FIRST QUARTER KEY
The first quarter has been to key to Rutgers victories this season.
In games won, the Scarlet Knights are outscoring the opposition, 155-128, in the first half of play, including a 80-60 advantage in the first quarter.
In games lost, the opponent leads RU, 100-68, in scoring in first half, including a 58-24 edge in first quarter scoring.
MOVING ON UP
While leading scorer Kahleah Copper was held to only nine points in Thursday night's loss to Florida State, the senior Scarlet Knight did manage to move up two more spots on the all-time scoring leaders list. Copper moved past Liz Hanson (1992-95) and Kathy Glutz (1976-80) into 12th on the list.
Copper currently has 1,420 career points and needs 37 more points to surpass Tasha Pointer (1997-01) for 11th all-time and 81 more points to crack the Scarlet Knight top 10.
FROM THE LINE
Junior Tyler Scaife has been clutch from the line missing just one free throw in her 25 attempts to date.
Scaife opened the season going a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe in the season's first three contests, which included a perfect 9-of-9 performance against St. John's on Nov. 19.
Believe it or not, Scaife's free throw performance against the Red Storm was not her career best. Scaife knocked down all 10 of her free throw attempts against Delaware in the first round of the WNIT back in 2014.
At the Paradise Jam last weekend, Scaife knocked down a perfect 8-of-8 from the line including a 6-of-6 mark in RU's victory over Green Bay to capture the 2015 Paradise Jam title.
Scaife has gone perfect from the line in 22 contests in her three years "On The Banks".
ON THE GLASS
Senior Ariel Butts returned to the court to make her 2015-16 debut on Nov. 19 against St. John's to set a new career mark in rebounds.
Butts hauled in 11 boards, including nine on the defense glass, to reset her previous benchmark of 10 set against Iowa last season in the Big Ten home opener.
Butts had missed the first two games of the season after a subluxation of the knee in the preseason made her a game day decision. Through seven games, she is averaging 6.3 rebounds per contest. She entered her senior season with a career average of 2.7 on the glass.
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.
Six different Scarlet Knights have connected from beyond the arc led by Kahleah Copper and Tyler Scaife with eight 3-point field goals made each, followed by Shrita Parker and Cynthia Hernandez with six apiece.
RU has hit at least one three-point field goal in each of its eight games to date and is averaging 4.3 three point field goals a game. Last season, the Scarlet Knights went without a made shot from downtown in four contests and connected on only one three-pointer in nine games.
Last season, RU ranked last in the Big Ten and was 348 of 343 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.
BLOCK PARTY
Rachel Hollivay checks in this weekend with 240 career blocks, ranking fifth all-time at Rutgers. She needs six more rejections to move past Tanya Hansen (1988-92) into fourth place.
The senior Scarlet Knight has registered 40 games in her career with three or more blocks.
Hollivay ended her sophomore season with 127 rejections which ranks her third (men or women) in blocks in a single season. Only Hamady Ndiaye (2009-10) and Roy Hinson (1982-83) on the men's side have blocked more shots in a single season, swatting away 145 and 144, respectively.
Rutgers Blocked Shots Leaders
1. Sue Wicks (1984-88) 293
2. Kia Vaughn (2005-09) 279
3. LaTonya Johnson (1988-92) 248
4. Tanya Hansen (1988-92) 245
5. Rachel Hollivay (2012-present) 240
PROTECTING HOMECOURT
The Scarlet Knights have had an outstanding track record of success at home. The Scarlet Knights went 11-4 at home in 2014-15, with all four setbacks against the nation's top 25.
Since the 2002-03 season, the Scarlet Knights have gone 162-30 (.844) at the RAC. In this last five years, RU has put together a record of 65-14 (.823) at the RAC.
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-RU-
