WBB Back on the Road at Nebraska
Jan 14 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team begins a two-game road trip this weekend. First up for the Scarlet Knights is their first trip to Lincoln, Nebraska to meet the Cornhuskers on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (ET). The game will air on BTN with Mike Wolf and Shelley Tilly on the call.
| Game Eighteen: Rutgers (12-5, 3-2 Big Ten) vs. Nebraska (11-5, 2-3 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Saturday, Jan. 16 |
| Time | 6:30 p.m. EST |
| Location | Pinnacle Bank Arena | Lincoln, Neb. |
| TV | BTN (Mike Wolf & Shelley Till) |
| Radio | WRSU 88.7 FM (Dominick Savino & Lance Glinn) |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Nebraska |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Nebraska |
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After extending its home win streak to eight games in a 67-54 victory over Illinois on Wednesday night, the Rutgers women's basketball team is back on the road heading to Nebraska and Michigan State. Both games will air on BTN.
Rutgers' RAC win streak was extended in part by a season-high tying 27 points from junior Tyler Scaife and double-double efforts from both seniors Kahleah Copper and Rachel Hollivay in the win over the Fighting Illini. Hollivay finished the night with 14 points and 14 boards while Copper contributed 15 points and 11 points in the victory. For Copper, it was her third double-double in the last five contests.
Rutgers has won eight straight at the RAC, where they own a 8-1 record on the 2015-16 season, but will be looking to add to the road win column. The Scarlet Knights are 3-4 away from the friendly confines of the hardwood in Piscataway, N.J.
ABOUT NEBRASKA
Nebraska hosts the Scarlet Knights for the first time in program history on Saturday and enters the contest at 11-5 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten play. The Cornhuskers have won two straight with a 73-57 win over Illinois and an 83-78 victory at Penn State on Wednesday night after dropping its first three conference contests.
Like the Scarlet Knights, the Cornhuskers have been successful on their homecourt. Nebraska owns a 10-1 record at Pinnacle Bank Arena with its lone home loss being a 74-68 set back to Iowa in the Big Ten opener on Dec. 31.
Nebraska is led by Jessica Shepard at 19.9 points per game to go along with her team leading 9.1 rebounds per game. Shepard is fourth in the league in scoring and tied for third in the Big Ten in rebounding.
Joining Shepard in double digits is Natalie Romeo at 15.4 points per contest and Rachel Theriot at 11.8 points per game and 6.3 boards per contest.
LAST TIME VS. NEBRASKA
Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer became the Big Ten's all-time winningest basketball coach as the No. 21/22 Scarlet Knights defeated No. 19/18 Nebraska, 46-43, on Feb. 5, 2015 at the RAC.
Betnijah Laney led the stat sheet for Rutgers with 16 points and 14 rebounds en route to her 15th double-double of the season. Tyler Scaife poured in 12 points of her own in the win.
Nebraska was without the services of starting point guard Rachel Theriot. The Cornhuskers' Tear'a Laudermill paced the squad with 16 points, followed by Emily Cady with 13 in the loss.
Rutgers opened the night with seven uncontested points, holding Nebraska scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of play, and raced out to an 11-2 advantage with 14:56 to go. A three-pointer from Laudermill would ignite a 7-0 run for Nebraska, cutting its deficit to five points, 17-12, its closest margin of the half with 7:15 left.
Holding Nebraska to 6-of-34 shooting from the field, a season-low for the Huskers, Rutgers would take a 26-17 edge into halftime.
Nebraska kicked off the second half with seven consecutive points to pull within two, 26-24, with 16:12 to go. Laney, however, knocked down two free throws to shift the momentum back in RU's direction.
The Scarlet Knights would outscore the Huskers 12-4 to expand its lead to 38-28 at the 9:21 mark. Nebraska's Cady registered a bucket from beyond the arc to end the run, but on Rutgers' following trip down the court, Scaife added on a jumper as RU led 40-31 with 7:01 remaining.
Scaife's basket was not enough to stump the Huskers as they pulled within four, 44-41, with under a minute to go. Despite the burst from Laudermill from the three-point range to keep the Cornhuskers within striking distance, Laney knocked in two free throws and denied a trio of late three-point attempts to seal the win.
The Scarlet Knights would outscore the Huskers 12-4 to expand its lead to 38-28 at the 9:21 mark. Nebraska's Cady registered a bucket from beyond the arc to end the run, but on Rutgers' following trip down the court, Scaife added on a jumper as RU led 40-31 with 7:01 remaining.
Scaife's basket was not enough to stump the Huskers as they pulled within four, 44-41, with under a minute to go. Despite the burst from Laudermill from the three-point range to keep the Cornhuskers within striking distance, Laney knocked in two free throws and denied a trio of late three-point attempts to seal the win.
The Scarlet Knights would outscore the Huskers 12-4 to expand its lead to 38-28 at the 9:21 mark. Nebraska's Cady registered a bucket from beyond the arc to end the run, but on Rutgers' following trip down the court, Scaife added on a jumper as RU led 40-31 with 7:01 remaining.
Scaife's basket was not enough to stump the Huskers as they pulled within four, 44-41, with under a minute to go. Despite the burst from Laudermill from the three-point range to keep the Cornhuskers within striking distance, Laney knocked in two free throws and denied a trio of late three-point attempts to seal the win.
CRACKING THE TOP TEN
With her 14 points in Wednesday's victory over Illinois, Kahleah Copper moved up the Rutgers scoring chart into ninth place. With 1, 564 career points, she surpassed Epiphanny Prince (2006-09), member of the WNBA's Chicago Sky and Second Team All-WNBA member.
This season, Copper became the 11th Scarlet Knight to register 1,500 or more career points.
Copper needs 59 more points to move into the eighth spot on the scoring leaders list past Matee Ajavon (2004-08).
D-D-D-DEFENSE
So far the Scarlet Knight defense has been doing its job in keeping some of the Big Ten's leading scorers below their averages.
| Opponent: | Average Entering Game With Rutgers: | Vs. Rutgers: |
| Nicole Bauman - WIS | 15.9 | 7 |
| Ally Disterhoft - IOWA | 17.2 | 15 |
| Rachel Banham - MINN | 23.1 | 17 |
| Kelsey Mitchell - OSU | 24.6 | 31 |
| Chatrice White - Ill | 17.9 | 13 |
CAPITALIZING ON MISCUES
In the last seven games, RU has averaged 20.9 points off a total of 120 opponent miscues.
Conversely, RU has averaged just 12.1 turnovers in that span including a season low four turnovers in their against Wisconsin on Jan. 7. It was the fewest turnovers by the program since turning the ball over five times at Syracuse on Feb. 14, 2007.
DOUBLING DOUBLE DOUBLES
Both Rachel Hollivay and Kahleah Copper collected double-doubles in RU's 66-55 Big Ten opening victory over Minnesota and more recently in a 67-54 win over Illinois on Wednesday night.
Against the Fighting Illini, Hollivay captured her second double figure scoring and rebounding effort of the season with a season-high 14 points and career-high tying 14 rebounds. Copper meanwhile added in 15 points and 11 boards.
Copper has recorded seven double-doubles in 2015-16, including four in her last five appearances.
Hollivay, meanwhile, has had three double figure rebounding game, including two straight. In her last two appearances, she has averaged 12.0 rebounds per contest.
They were the first Scarlet Knight duo with double-doubles since Betnijah Laney (14 pts, 10 reb) and Briyona Canty (10 pts, 10 ast) both had double-double performances against Northeastern on Nov. 19, 2014.
HELPING HAND
Redshirt senior guard Briyona Canty registered eight games with five or more assists this season and is currently averaging 4.6 assists per game. She ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
Canty tied her career-high with 10 assists in RU's Big Ten opening win over the Golden Gophers. It marked the third time in her career she has recorded double figure assists.
Most recently, Canty finished with seven assists against the Fighting Illini, her fifth game with seven or more assists and 10th game with five or more helpers this season.
The Scarlet Knights' top play maker has recorded 31 games in her career handing out the ball five or more times, including 15 of her 29 games last year.
FROM THE LINE
Junior Tyler Scaife has been clutch from the line missing just four free throws in her 48 attempts to date. She currently leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth nationally in free throw percentage, shooting at a .917 percent clip.
UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights remain on the road heading to East Lansing, Michigan following Saturday's matchup with the Cornhuskers where they will meet their fourth top 25 opponent of the season in the No. 18 Spartans.
Follow Rutgers women's basketball on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWBB), Twitter (www.twitter.com/RutgersWBB) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/RutgersWBB) for all of the latest news and updates. Fans also receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on both social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.
-RU-
