PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Behind double-doubles from seniors Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) and Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) and a season-high tying 27 points from Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.), the Rutgers women's basketball team topped Illinois, 67-54, to extend its home win streak to eight on Wednesday night at the RAC.
Rutgers improved to an overall record of 12-5 and a Big Ten mark of 3-2, while Illinois fell to 7-9 overall and remains winless in conference action.
Scaife led all scorers in the win, tying her season-high for the second straight contest with 27 points. Copper followed with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Hollivay added in 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Illinois was paced by Kyley Simmons with 17 points, 15 of which were from the three-point range. Chatrice White also contributed 14 points in the loss.
Rutgers cruised to a 12-4 advantage on the scoreboard to start the contest. After Illinois brought the margin to 12-6 at 2:30 mark of the first quarter, RU knocked in eight uncontested points across the following two-minute span to bring its lead to 20-6.
Although Fighting Illini Chatrice White beat the first-quarter buzzer with a three-pointer to set the score at 20-9, the Scarlet Knights would not be stumped as they extended their lead to 30-15 by the midway point of the second quarter.
A three-pointer from Simmons ignited a 5-0 run for Illinois, however, Hollivay ended the burst to set the score at 32-20 with 2:50 remaining until the break.
The Scarlet Knights held at least a 10-point cushion for the remainder of the first half, carrying a 38-26 lead into the locker room.
After Scaife pushed the RU edge to 43-28 with the Scarlet Knights' first five points of the third quarter, back-to-back Illinois baskets across the next four minutes of play to brought the margin to 43-32 with 6:20 to go in the third. However, Scaife ended the scoring drought for the Scarlet Knights to ignite a back-and-fourth battle on the court.
Although Illinois would cut the margin to single digits on two occasions, Rutgers re-established an 11-point edge, 51-40, on a jumper from Scaife to close the third stanza.
Rutgers moved to its largest lead of the night with an 11-6 run to start the fourth quarter, holding a 64-46 edge with 3:34 to go in the game. Simmons ended the RU drive with her third three-pointer of the quarter, as the sophomore totaled for all of the Fighting Illini's nine points across that span. Jaelyne Kirkpatrick added in a basket from beyond the arc as well to bring the score to 65-52 with 2:21 to go.
Scaife closed the night with two free throws, marking a flawless effort from the charity stripe for the ninth time this season (3-of-3), to close the Scarlet Knight win at 67-54.
Up next, Rutgers hits the road for two contests, first with a stop at Nebraska on Saturday, Jan. 16 followed by a matchup at Michigan State on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Both games will be televised live on BTN.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Victoria Harris garnered her first career start and finished the contest tying her season-high for a third time with six points.
- It was the second time this season with two Scarlet Knights with a double-double in a game. Rachel Hollivay and Kahleah Copper also had double-doubles in the Big Ten opening victory over Minnesota on Dec. 31.
- Copper recorded her seventh double-double of the season, fourth in the last five games, and 12th of her career. Hollivay meanwhile managed her second double-double of the season and fourth of her career.
- Kahleah Copper moved in to ninth place on the all-time scoring leaders list surpassing Epiphanny Prince (2006-09) with her 15 points. She now has 1,564 career points and needs 59 points to move into eighth all-time past Matee Ajavon (2004-08).
- Rachel Hollivay tied her season high with 14 points. She also had 14 in the Big Ten opener vs. Minnesota on Dec. 31.
- Hollivay registered her third double figure rebounding game and second straight. Her previous season high was 12 boards against Minnesota on Dec. 31.
- Hollivay also tied her career-high with 14 boards. She also had 14 rebounds in the WNIT third round match-up with Seton Hall in 2014.
- Scaife scored 20+ points for the eighth time this season and 25th time in her career scoring a season-high 27 points for the second straight game.
- Scaife tied Kia Vaughn (2005-09) for 18th on the all-time scoring leaders list with 1,329 career points.
- Scaife also continued her prowess from the free throw line. She went 3-of-3 from the charity stripe and is 44-of-48 on the season.
- Briyona Canty finished with seven assists, her fifth game with seven or more assists and 10th game with five or more helpers.
- Rutgers posted 34 points in the paint, the third straight game with 30 or more points inside.
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