EAST LANSING, MICH. - Junior Tyler Scaife (Little Rock, Ark.) was the lone Scarlet Knight in double figures as the Rutgers women's basketball team fell in a game of runs to No. 21/18 Michigan State on Tuesday night at the Breslin Center.
RU dropped to a record of 12-7 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten, while MSU improved to 14-4 overall and 5-2 in conference action.
Scaife paced all scorers with her ninth 20+ scoring game of the year and third in the last four games. The junior guard's 24 points included a flawless 6-for-6 showing at the free throw line. Senior Kahleah Copper (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Classmate Rachel Hollivay (Columbus, Miss.) contributed a game-high six blocks, while also adding in six rebounds.
Michigan State finished the game with four in double figures, led by Aerial Powers with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Tori Jankoska followed with 15 points of her own, while Jasmine Hines and Branndais Agee registered 10 points.
Although the Spartans jumped to a 5-0 lead to start the game, the Scarlet Knights steadily cut into the margin, bringing the deficit to 9-8 midway through the first quarter. Michigan State held the edge until a three-point play for Copper tied the score at 13-13. Scaife followed with two free throws to put Rutgers ahead, 15-13, with 1:14 to go in the frame.
The Scarlet Knights expanded its run to 13 uncontested points for a 23-13 lead by the 7:50 minute mark of the second quarter. MSU's Morgan Green stumped the RU run, as the Spartans knocked in four straight to bring the score to 23-17 with 6:33 on the clock.
A three-pointer from Parker would stump a Spartan comeback, guiding the Scarlet Knights to a 28-25 lead at halftime.
Returning from the break, MSU found a 5-0 burst to reclaim the lead at 30-28. A free throw from Copper and a three-pointer from Parker returned the lead, however, to RU, 32-30, with 6:55 to go in the frame.
The score would be tied on two occasions until Michigan State found an edge with six straight free throws to generate a 40-34 lead with 3:53 left in the third. RU countered with six straight points, capped by back-to-back baskets from Copper who went 1-for-7 from the field prior, to tie the score, 40-40, moving into the fourth.
Scaife kept the run rolling for RU with a jumper, along with draining two from the charity stripe, to put RU up 44-40 with 8:21 remaining in the contest. However, the game of runs continued, as MSU generated seven consecutive points to reclaim the edge at 47-44, for the sixth lead change of the night with 4:13 on the clock.
Although Scaife ended the RU drought to pull the Scarlet Knights within one at 47-46 as the clock read 3:31, MSU closed the night outscoring RU 12-2 to claim the win.
KNIGHT NOTES:
- Tyler Scaife reached double-figure scoring for the 12th straight game. She ended the night with 20+ points for the ninth time in 2015-16 and for the third time in four games. She has reached the 20+ point mark 26 times in her career.
- Scaife finished the night 6-of-6 from the line, her 11th perfect performance from the charity stripe this season.
- Scaife was the lone Scarlet Knight in double figures. RU is 1-2 on the season when only one Scarlet Knight is in double figures.
- Rachel Hollivay tied her season high with six blocks for the fourth time this season. She also had six blocks against Iona (Dec. 9), LSU (Dec. 19) and Minnesota (Dec. 31). She now has 278 career blocks and needs three more rejections to take over sole possession of second place on the all-time Rutgers blocks leaders list and surpass Kia Vaughn (2005-09).
- With her 24 points, Scaife moved up two spots on the all-time scoring leaders list. She now has 1,364 career points and surpassed Tomora Young (1995-99) and Shawnetta Stewart (1997-00) for 16th on the all-time list. She needs 38 more points to become the 16th Scarlet Knight with over 1,400 career points and move past former teammate Betnijah Laney (2011-15) into 15th all-time in scoring.
- It was the first time Rutgers has been tied heading into the fourth quarter. Rutgers is 9-1 when leading and 3-5 when trailing.
- Rutgers was outrebounded 44-30, only the fifth time this season the Scarlet Knights have been outrebounded. It was the largest opponent rebounding margin this season and most since Seton Hall held a 39-26 advantage on the glass.
- Victoria Harris tied her season-high with six boards. She also had six rebounds against another top 25 team in Florida State back on Dec. 3 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
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