WBB Heads to No. 21 Michigan State
Jan 18 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team's road swing continues as the Scarlet Knights meet up with No. 21 Michigan State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on BTN. Lisa Byington and Vera Jones will be on the call.
| Game Nineteen: Rutgers (12-6, 3-3 Big Ten) vs. No. 21/18 MSU (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Tuesday, Jan. 19 |
| Time | 6:00 p.m. EST |
| Location | Breslin Center | East Lansing, Mich. |
| TV | BTN (Lisa Byington & Vera Jones) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Michigan State |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Michigan State |
STRINGER ON THE SIDELINES Head coach C. Vivian Stringer will be on the sidelines for Tuesday's game against the Spartans. She joined the team in Michigan after missing Saturday's game with Nebraska to attend to her mother who has fallen ill in recent weeks.
REMAINING ON THE ROAD
The Rutgers women's basketball team will be looking to return to the win column following a 65-54 setback at Nebraska on Saturday evening. The Scarlet Knights led the Cornhuskers through three quarters before late fourth quarter surge put Nebraska on top at the final horn.
Rutgers travels to No. 21/18 Michigan State for the first of two meeting with the Spartans. The game will air on BTN with Lisa Byington and Vera Jones on the call. The Scarlet Knights had four in double figures in Saturday's loss.
Kahleah Copper missed out on her third consecutive double-double with a team-high 12 points to go along with nine boards. Senior post Ariel Butts meanwhile put away her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Tyler Scaife and Rachel Hollivay each contributed 10 points in the loss.
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State hosts the Scarlet Knights sporting a 13-4 overall mark and 4-2 record in Big Ten play.
Like the Scarlet Knights, Michigan State has been successful at home and holds an 8-1 record on its homecourt with its lone loss at the Breslin Center coming in a 85-78 setback to Louisville in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Dec. 3. Since the loss to the Cardinals, MSU has rattled off five straight home victories.
The Spartans are coming off a 80-73 win over Iowa and have won four of their last five games and nine of their last 11 contests.
Michigan State is led by Aerial Powers with a team-leading 18.8 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game. She is eighth in the Big Ten in scoring and seventh in rebounding.
Following Powers on the stat sheet is Tori Jankoska at 16.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. Branndais Agee is contributing 11.5 points per game and 5.2 board per outing while Jasmine Hines rounds out the Spartan double figure scorers at 10.5 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per contest.
LAST TIME VS. MICHIGAN STATE
The Rutgers No. 19/18 women's basketball team suffered a 60-50 loss against Michigan State on Feb. 22, 2015 at the Breslin Center.
Kahleah Copper led Rutgers for the 11th time in the season with 20 points while Betnijah Laney 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 a 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.
LOOKING TO BECOME ROAD WARRIORS
Rutgers has won eight straight on their homecourt 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 4-5 away from the friendly confines of the hardwood in Piscataway, N.J.
BUTTS BACK INTO THE GROOVE
Ariel Butts has missed several games this season with a bone bruiser affecting her right knee. She sat out RU's contest with Illinois on Wednesday with soreness in her knee, but returned to the starting lineup against Nebraska, where she collected her first career double-double.
Butts became the third Scarlet Knight to register a double-double this season. She tied her career-high with 10 points. She also had 10 points against Virginia during the Paradise Jam on Nov. 27. Butts also registered a career-high 14 rebounds, her most rebounds since grabbing 11 vs. St. John's on Nov. 19.
CRACKING THE TOP TEN
With her 14 points in last Wednesday's victory over Illinois, Kahleah Copper moved up the Rutgers scoring chart into ninth place. 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 47 more points to move into the eighth spot on the scoring leaders list past Matee Ajavon (2004-08) and currently has 1,576 career points.
CAPITALIZING ON MISCUES
In the last eight games, RU has averaged 17.6 points off a total of 125 opponent miscues.
Conversely, RU has averaged just 11.8 turnovers in that span including a season low four turnovers in their contest 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.
In the Scarlet Knights' last contest, Nebraska committed only five turnovers, the fewest by a RU opponent this season and just the fifth time an opponent has made 10 or fewer turnovers.
UP NEXT
Following Tuesday's meeting with the Spartans, the Scarlet Knights return home where they have won eight straight to host #5/5 Ohio State on Sunday, Jan. 24 on ESPN2.
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-RU-
