Feb. 14, 2015

Box Score | Photo Gallery | VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The No. 18/17 Rutgers women's basketball team muscled its way inside to a 78-49 victory over Purdue on Saturday afternoon in the annual Play4Kay contest.

Rutgers, winners in seven of its last eight contests, improved to an overall record of 19-6 and 10-4 in Big Ten play. Purdue, meanwhile, fell to 10-15 overall and 3-11 in league action.

The Scarlet Knights pounded the ball into the paint for 50 points as Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) notched a game-high 24 points. Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) followed with 16 points. Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Arkansas) poured in 14 of her own and Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) added on 12 to round out the double figure scorers.

Purdue leading scorer Whitney Bays, who entered the game averaging 14.9 points per game, was limited to six points. Bays went 4-of-6 from the line and only 1-of-9 from the field, but hauled in a game-high 10 boards. Bridget Perry was the lone Boilermaker in double figures with 13 points.

Neither team was able to achieve a sizeable advantage early as by the eight minute mark the score had been tied six times with seven lead changes. At the hands of three Boilermaker turnovers, the Scarlet Knights found an 8-1 run to establish a 26-18 advantage with 3:33 to go.

The Scarlet Knights, who had 10 first half steals, saw back-to-back thefts from Cynthia Hernandez (Ventura, Calif.) and Briyona Canty (Willingboro, N.J.) to help give RU a 30-23 edge with one minute remaining. Laney then drained a three to give the Scarlet Knights their largest lead of the opening stanza at 33-23, as Rutgers headed into the locker room with a 10-point advantage.

Purdue would outscore Rutgers, 11-6, to open the second half and what was once a double-digit lead for the Scarlet Knights was cut down to two. With Purdue threatening a lead change, trailing 39-37 with 14:20 to go, RU responded with eight uncontested points to expand its lead to 47-37 at the 11:53 mark. Rutgers would go on to outscore Purdue, 20-5, over nearly a 14 minute span, creating a 69-44 lead with 3:36 remaining in the game.

With 1:16 left on the clock, Laney dropped in her second three-pointer of the game to give RU its largest lead of the afternoon, 76-48.

The Rutgers women's basketball team remains home for its next matchup on Tuesday, February 17 against Illinois. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

KNIGHT NOTES
- Starting lineup vs. Purdue were Rachel Hollivay, Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Briyona Canty and Betnijah Laney.
- The Scarlet Knights are winners in seven of their last eight contests.
- Rutgers finished with four Scarlet Knights in double figures. It was the 10th time this season RU has had four or more reach double digit scoring.
- The Scarlet Knights finished with 50 points in the paint to tie their season high in the category. RU also had 50 points inside at Wagner on Nov. 25 in an 81-53 win. It was the 16th game with 30 or more points in the paint and fourth game with 40 or more points inside.
- Purdue's 22 turnovers were the most by an opponent since Penn State's 38 miscues on Feb. 1. The Boilermaker turnovers resulted in 30 points for the Scarlet Knights, the most points off turnovers since netted 36 against the Lady Lions in the Feb. 1 contest. RU has posted 30 or more points off turnovers three times this season.
- Kahleah Copper led all scorers with 24 points. It was Copper's seventh game of the year with 20 or more points and 18th of her career. Additionally it was the 10th time she has led the Scarlet Knights in scoring this season.
- Copper's 24 points moved her into 28th on the all-time scoring list past Jennie Hall (1978-83). Copper now has 1,129 career points and needs 14 more points to move up past Brittany ray (2006-10).
- Betnijah Laney added in 16 points to move into 18th on the all-time scoring leaders list with 1, 282 career points. She surpassed both Lorrie Lawrence (1980-84) and Patti Sikorski (1976-80) and is seven points away from surpassing Khadijah Rushdan (2007-12) for 17th.
- Laney's sixth rebounds against the Boilermakers moved her into seventh all-time at Rutgers in rebounds with 839 boards. Laney surpassed Kathy Glutz (1976-80) and needs 56 more boards to move into sixth all-time past Tanya Hansen (1988-82).
- Tyler Scaife added in 14 points on her best shooting performance (6-of-13) since going off for 28 points against then-No. 21 Minnesota on Jan. 25. Scaife is now 83 points away from becoming the third Scarlet Knight this season and 36th Scarlet Knight overall to net 1,000 career points.
- Rachel Hollivay also contributed 12 points shooting 6-of-9 from the field. It was the most points for Hollivay since pouring in 14 points in the first meeting with Maryland on Jan. 15.
- Rutgers 16 steals were the most since garnering 22 steals at Penn State, one theft shy of the school record, on Feb. 1. RU has captured 10 or more seals in 10 games this year.
- After recording no steals in the last two games on the road with Michigan and Maryland, Syessence Davis registered seven steals against Purdue. It marked the seventh game of the year with five more steals and she has posted three or more steals in 14 contests. She now has 273 career thefts and needs three more steals to surpass Matee Ajavon (2004-08) for fourth on RU's all-time steals leaders list.
- Davis also dished out the ball four times to crack RU's top 10 in career assists. With her four dishes, she now has 374 career assists to move into 10th all-time past Telicher Austin (1985-89). She needs 21 more assists to move into ninth all-time past Patty Coyle (1978-82).
- Additionally, Davis committed no turnovers for the ninth time this season.
- Briyona Canty led RU with five assists marking her 12th game of the year and 19th game of her career with five or more assists.
- The Scarlet Knights committed just 10 turnovers against the Boilermakers marking the 12th time they have turned the ball over 15 or fewer times. It was the fewest turnovers since recording nine miscues at Wisconsin on Jan. 18.

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-RU-