Feb. 22, 2015
Box Score | VIDEO: Evans Postgame Interview
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Rutgers No. 19/18 women's basketball team suffered a 60-50 loss against Michigan State on Sunday afternoon at the Breslin Center.
The Scarlet Knights fell to 20-7 overall and 11-5 in Big Ten play. RU currently sits in third in the Big Ten standings. The Spartans moved to 13-14 overall and 5-11 in conference action.
Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) led Rutgers for the 11th time this season with 20 points while Betnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.) followed with 14 points in the loss.
Michigan State was led by Tori Jankoska with a game-high 21 points, seven of which were from the free throw line and six came from beyond the arc. Aerial Powers followed with 18 points with eight from the charity stripe and six from downtown, as well. Becca Mills wrapped up the double-figure Spartan scorers with 10 points.
Michigan State opened the contest with a three-pointer from the hands of Lexi Gussert, feeding the momentum for the Spartans beyond the arc and paving the way to a 17-9 lead at the 10:05 mark.
The Scarlet Knights responded with a 6-2 run over the next four minutes of play to cut into the deficit and trailed just 19-16. A three-pointer from Powers would end the burst, however, Rutgers was only behind four, 24-20, with just over two minutes left in the first half.
With four seconds on the clock, Powers would knock in another from beyond the arc to make it a seven-point game as time expired. The Scarlet Knights would enter halftime behind, 27-20, for only the fifth time this season.
Out of the locker room, Copper would add in six straight points of her own to bring the score to 30-26 with 16:37 to go.
Rutgers would pull within three, 34-31, with 12:25 remaining, however, Michigan State knocked in 11 uncontested points over the next four minutes of action to generate its largest lead of the game at 45-31. Copper ended the run with a free throw, igniting 5-0 run of her own to cut into the deficit, 47-36, with 5:08 left on the clock.
With the score 52-38, RU would outscore MSU, 9-1, to pull within six with two minutes to play. The Spartans, however, would add in six straight points from the charity stripe to expand its lead to 59-47.
The Rutgers women's basketball team hits the road on more time this regular season with a trip to Northwestern on Thursday, Feb. 26 for an 8 p.m. (ET) tip. RU wraps up the season three days later at the RAC for Senior Night against Indiana on Sunday, Mar. 1 at 2 p.m.
KNIGHT NOTES
- The starting lineup vs. the Spartans featured Rachel Hollivay, Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Syessence Davis and Betnijah Laney.
- Rutgers trailed 27-20 at the half. It was only the fifth time in the 27 games to date that the Scarlet Knights have trailed. RU is 0-5 when trailing at the half.
- RU's 20 points at the intermission were the fewest by the Scarlet Knights in a first half. The previous low was 23 against then-No. 11/13 Tennessee as Rutgers led 23-20 at the half on Dec 14.
- Kahleah Copper finished with a team-high 20 points. It was the 11th time this season and 30th time in her career she has led the Scarlet Knights in scoring. Additionally it was the eighth time this year she has reached the 20+ point mark and 19th time in her career.
- With her 20 points, Copper moved past April Sykes (2008-12) into 26th on the all-time scoring leader list. She now has 1,165 career points.
- Betnijah Laney finished with 14 points as the only other Scarlet Knight in double figures. She scored her 1,300 career point to become one of 17 Scarlet Knights to accomplish the feat. She now has 1,310 career points.
- Syessence Davis ended the afternoon with four steals and now has 282 career thefts. She needs three more steals to tie Sue Wicks (1984-88) and Liz Hanson (1992-96) for second on RU's all-time steals leaders list and 11 more to surpass Tasha Pointer (1997-2001) as the all-time steals leader in Rutgers history.
- Davis' four steals also moved up the single-season charts. With 95 steals in 2014-15, she is now fifth moving past Vicky Picott (1990-91) and Regina Howard (1986-87).
- Rutgers committed 10 of its 14 turnovers in the first half. It was the 13th time this year with 15 or fewer miscues.
- Conversely, Michigan State committed 24 turnovers resulting in 27 Scarlet Knight points. The Spartans were the 14th opponent this season and third straight to register 20 or more miscues.
- The Scarlet Knights finished the game shooting 31.3 percent (20-of-64), its second lowest shooting percentage of the season. RU's season low was 31.1 percent (19-of-61).
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-RU-
