Feb. 1, 2015

Box Score | Photo Gallery | VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The No. 22/23 Rutgers women's basketball team extended its win streak to four with a 76-65 victory over Penn State on Sunday afternoon at the RAC as head coach C. Vivian Stringer tied former Penn State coach Rene Portland for the most wins in Big Ten women's basketball play.

The Scarlet Knights improve to an overall record of 16-5 and 7-3 in Big Ten play, while the Lady Lions fell to 5-17 overall and 2-9 in league play.

Including her tenure at Iowa, which included 169 Big Ten wins and RU's seven conference wins this season, Stringer now shares the top spot with Portland in all-time Big Ten victories with 175.

Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) paced Rutgers for the second consecutive contest with a game-high and season-high 25 points. Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) followed with 21 points, while Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) recorded 16 points and 14 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season.

Penn State had four players finish the game with double-figure scoring, led by Lindsay Spann from off the bench with 16 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc. Sierra Moore contributed 12 points in the loss, while Candice Agee and Peyton Whitted added in 11 points apiece.

Both teams got off to a slow start to open the game. Copper gave the Scarlet Knights their first six points of the contest, giving RU a 6-4 lead with 15:40 to go.

After nearly two scoreless minutes from both sides, the squads heated up. RU and PSU began a back-and-forth battle as Penn State pulled within one on four occasions across a three-minute span. With the score 15-14, Rutgers would go on an 8-1 run, capped by back-to-back three-pointers from the hands of Cynthia Hernandez (Venture, Calif).

PSU responded with a three-pointer of its own from Spann, but the Scarlet Knights took an 8-2 run for its largest lead of the opening stanza. RU held an 11-point, 31-20 edge with 5:27 left until the intermission.

Up 33-24, Rutgers would suffer nearly five scoreless minutes, but managed to hold off Penn State to carry a 37-28 lead into halftime.

Returning from the break, Penn State came alive on a 17-5 run to start the second half, generating a 47-42 lead. It marked the first advantage for the Lady Lions since the 17:65 in the first half and its largest lead of the night. Rutgers came out of the locker room going only 2-of-19 to open second half action.

After looking for a bucket for nearly five minutes, a jumper from Scaife put the momentum back in Rutgers' direction. Laney and Copper each completed a 2-of-2 trip to the charity stripe to put the Scarlet Knights back in front, 48-47, with 9:23 remaining.

Penn State would tie the contest 48-48 with 8:41 to play, however, Copper added on another free throw to give Rutgers the lead the rest of the way. Copper would score 10 of her game-high 25 points during this final span.

While the Scarlet Knights would stretch their lead to as many eight over the final minutes, the Lady Lions were able to pull was within two, 64-62, with 3:37 left.

After a layup by Peyton put the RU lead in jeopardy, Rutgers rattled off six unanswered points and outscored Penn State 12-3 to end the game

Up next, the Rutgers women's basketball team hosts No. 15/19 Nebraska as the Scarlet Knights try to place head coach C. Vivian Stringers name at the top of the all-time Big Ten women's basketball victories list on Thursday, Feb. 5 at the RAC. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on BTN.

KNIGHT NOTES:
- The starting five against Penn State were Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Syessence Davis, Christa Evans and Betnijah Laney. It was the third time this season and second straight game the starting lineup was used. RU also used the same starting five in last Thursday's win at Purdue and its first meeting with the Lady Lions on Jan. 10.
- With the win, C. Vivian Stringer has 176 wins in Big Ten play - 169 victories at Iowa and seven wins at Rutgers - and ties former Penn State coach Rene Portland for the most wins in Big Ten action.
- Also with the win, Stringer improves to 425-211 all-time at Rutgers. She needs nine more wins to surpass former head coach Theresa Grentz as RU's all-time winningest basketball coach.
- Kahleah Copper netted a game- and season-high 25 points in the victory, which included 10 points over the final 8:27 of the contest. It was the ninth time she led RU in scoring this season and 28th time of her career. Additionally, it was her sixth 20+ point effort of the season and 17th of her career.
- Copper surpassed her previous season-high of 23 set against the first meeting with the Lady Lions.
- In the last two games, Copper has averaged 23.0 points per game.
- Copper jumped two spots on the all-time scoring leaders list on Sunday to rank 31st all-time in scoring. With her 25 points, she surpassed Kristen Foley (1982-87) and Michelle Campbell (2002-06) and now has 1,060 career points. She needs 18 more point to move past Patty Delehanty (1978-82) for 30th all-time.
- Tyler Scaife poured in 21 points in the win. In the last two home games - Minnesota and Penn State - the sophomore guard has averaged 24.5 points per game.
- Scaife also had six assists in the victory, tying her career-high for a fourth time. She also had six assists in wins against Wagner (No. 25) and at Temple (Dec. 10) this season.
- Betnijah Laney collected her 14th double-double of the year with 16 points and 14 rebounds. While she shot just 3-of-14 from the field, Laney sunk 10 of her 12 attempts from the charity stripe.
- Laney has posted back-to-back games with 14 boards. A total of 11 of her 14 boards against the Lady Lions came on the defensive glass.
- With her 16 points, Laney became the 24th Scarlet Knight to pour in over 1,200 career points. Against the Lady Lions, she moved to 23rd all-time, surpassing Patty Coyle (1978-82), with 1,211 career points. She needs 16 more points to move past Julie Salmon (1982-86) for 22nd all-time.
- Christa Evans grabbed a season-high five rebounds. Her previous high was four against Wagner back on Nov. 25.
- Evans, who started in her second straight game, has averaged 21.0 minutes in the last three contests.
- With three steals, Syessence Davis moved into seventh all-time past Vicky Picott (1987-91) in steals at Rutgers. She now has 258 career thefts and needs just three more to move into sixth all-time past Epiphanny Prince (2006-09).
- Penn State is just the sixth team through 21 games to outrebound the Scarlet Knights. The Lady Lions held a 47-43 advantage on the glass.
- Rutgers committed only 11 turnovers, including only four in the second half. The Scarlet Knights have committed 15 or fewer miscues 11 times this season, including the last four straight and in six of the last seven outings.
- The Scarlet Knight have won four straight games - RU's longest win streak since opening the 2014-15 season with eight straight victories.

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-RU-