Box Score | VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. -The fifth-seeded Rutgers women's basketball team was topped by fourth-seeded Northwestern, 62-57, in a foul plagued quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The loss dropped the No. 23/22 Scarlet Knights to 22-9 overall as they await SelectionMondayabout NCAA Tournament postseason plans. The No. 25/RV Wildcats, who advance to play top-seeded Maryland in the semifinals, upped their overall mark to 23-7.
Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.)led the Scarlet Knights with 14 points.Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.)followed with 13 points, whileBetnijah Laney (Clayton, Del.)added 12 points in the loss.Syessence Davis (Neptune, N.J.), meanwhile, became RU's all-time steals leaders surpassing current assitant for the number one spot all-time - men or women - "on the banks".
Northwestern had five Wildcats finish the game in double-figures. Maggie Lyon paced the squad with a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds, including a 6-for-6 showing at the free throw line.
Rutgers started off the contest with six unchallenged points and kept the momentum going en route to a 12-4 lead by the 12:48 mark. Northwestern ended the run after nearly seven minutes of play had expired, however the Scarlet Knights continued to add to their lead.
RU continued to pull ahead, establishing a 30-15 advantage with 4:35 to go in the first half. The Wildcats responded with a 12-2 run, guided by nine points from the charity stripe to bring the score to 30-23 across the next two minutes of action.
RU denied the comeback by re-generating a 10-point cushion, 37-27, before heading into the locker room.
Fighting through a plethora of fouls, which saw Scaife,Syessence Davis (Neptune, N.J.)andAriel Butts (Columbus, Ga.)all with three fouls apiece by the half, the Scarlet Knights continued an up-hill battle in the second half.
Northwestern opened the second stanza with seven straight points and outscored the Scarlet Knights, 12-2, to claim its first lead of the night at 40-39 with 15:19 remaining.
The Wildcats led by as many as 10 with 4:01 left in the contest, but the Scarlet Knight managed to whittle their deficit down to single digits in the closing minutes. Scaife closed the gap to seven, 61-54 with just over a minute to go. A free throw by Karly Roser pushed the Wildcat lead back up to eight but 30 seconds had been knocked off the clock. Laney fired off RU's final shot of the afternoon, sinking a three-pointer, for the game's final margin.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- Friday's quarterfinal starting lineup featured Kahleah Copper, Tyler Scaife, Briyona Canty, Syessence Davis and Betnijah Laney.
- Syessence Davis finished the game with three steals to become RU's all-time steals leader (men's or women's) surpassing current assistant coach Tasha Pointer for the number one spot. She now has 394 career steals.
- Additionally, Davis has 105 steals on the season and is third on the single season steals leaders list. She needs three more to surpass last season's total and 13 more to become the all-time single season steals leader.
- Kahleah Copper finished with a team-high 14 points and had 11 of the first 15 points for Rutgers.
- Copper led the team in scoring for a team-best 13th time this season and 32nd time in her career.
- Betnijah Laney scored 12 points for her 16th-straight double-digit outing.
- Laney played 40+ minutes for the sixth time this season.
- Tyler Scaife contributed 13 points and is now 12 points shy of reaching 1,000 career points.
- Scaife also dished out five assists, one off her career best.
- Briyona Canty had six assists against the Wildcats giving her an average of 8.0 assists per game in the two tournament games. She has posted five or more assists in 14 games this season.
- The quarterfinal setback marked only the third time in 23 games this season that Rutgers was defeated after leading at halftime. RU led 37-27 at the intermission.
- The Scarlet Knights forced 23 Northwestern turnovers, resulting in 22 points.
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