Next B1G Challenge at No. 25 Iowa
Jan 02 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team hits the road for its first Big Ten challenge away from the RAC this season. RU meets up with No. 25 Iowa on Monday, Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. (ET). The game will air on BTN with Lisa Byington and Deb Antonelli on the call.
| Game Fourteen: Rutgers (10-3, 1-0 Big Ten) vs. RV/25 Iowa (11-2, 1-0 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Monday, Jan. 4 |
| Time | 8:00 p.m. EST |
| Location | The RAC | Piscataway, N.J. |
| TV | BTN (Lisa Byington & Deb Antonelli) |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM (Ralph Bednarczyk) WRSU 88.7 FM (Andrew Fafalio & Sean Griffin) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Iowa |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Iowa |
NEXT B1G CHALLENGE
The Rutgers women's basketball team hits the road for the first time since early December and starts off 2016 traveling to Iowa in its first Big Ten Conference road matchup. The game will be televised on BTN with Lisa Byington and Deb Antonelli on the call.
Monday's game will mark the lone meeting this season between the Scarlet Knights and Hawkeyes.
The contest marks the return of Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer to Iowa City where she coached the Hawkeyes from 1983-95. During her tenure she compiled a 269-84 record in her 12 seasons.
The Scarlet Knights enter the contest at 10-3 overall coming off an undefeated five-game homestand and kicked off conference play with a 66-55 come from behind victory over Minnesota. Rutgers is currently on a five-game win streak and has won nine of its last 10 games.
RU finished with three in double figures led by a game-high 23 points from Tyler Scaife along with double-double performances from Rachel Hollivay (14 pts, 12 reb) and Kahleah Copper (10 pts, 11 reb). Additionally, Briyona Canty added in 10 assists and six steals.
ABOUT IOWA
Iowa enters Monday's game at 11-2 overall and are coming off a 74-68 win at Nebraska on New Year's Eve to open up Big Ten action. The Hawkeyes have gone 6-0 at home at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season and won 24 straight home contests. To date, Iowa has won three straight and six of their last seven.
The Hawkeyes are ranked at No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and are receiving votes in the Associated Press Poll.
Iowa has three averaging double figures led by Ally Disterhoft at 17.2 points per game. Alexa Kastanek is second on the team at 12.6 points per game and is followed by Chase Coley at 10.6 points per contest to go along with a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME VS. IOWA
It has been exactly one year since the Scarlet Knights and Hawkeyes have tipped off. No. 16/17 Rutgers women's basketball team fell in its Big Ten home opener to No. 20 Iowa, 79-72, at the RAC on Jan. 4, 2015.
Kahleah Copper led the Scarlet Knights with a game-high and a then season-high 22 points, while Tyler Scaife added in 20 points. Betnijah Laney paced the battle on the boards with 13 rebounds and was one point shy of registering a double-double, finishing with nine.
For Iowa, Melissa Dixon led the team with 21 points, including a total of six three-pointers in the win. Samantha Logic recorded 17 points, while Ally Disterhoft and Bethany Doolittle notched 14 points each.
The Scarlet Knights and Hawkeyes went wire to wire to start the contest. Rutgers controlled the lead until Logic sunk one of the Hawkeye's five three-point field goals to put Iowa ahead, 11-10, at the 13:47 mark. Iowa would maintain control for the remainder of the half, paced by shooting 52 percent from the field, including a blistering 5-of-10 mark from downtown, and holding an edge by as many as eight points.
In the final minute of the first stanza, RU capitalized on trips to the charity stripe, going 5-for-6 at the line to bring the deficit within two. The late run was not enough to regain the advantage though as Iowa carried a 34-30 advantage into the half, marking only the second time this season that the Scarlet Knights have been behind entering the locker room.
Returning from the break, Rutgers found a spark outscoring Iowa, 10-4, to regain the lead, 40-38, with 17:37 on the clock. Unfortunately, Iowa would reclaim the lead on a three-pointer from Dixon on its next trip down the court.
With Iowa up, 54-52, with 12 minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights would hold the Hawkeyes scoreless for nearly three minutes. However, Iowa responded with a 13-6 run to create its largest lead of the night, 69-56, with 6:13 left on the clock. The Hawkeyes would maintain at least a seven point edge the rest of the way.
HOMESTAND STANDOUTS
The Scarlet Knights are coming off a five-game homestand where they went a perfect 5-0. During the stretch, RU outscored the opposition by an average of 21.4 points per game, scoring 63.6 points per game while holding opponents to 42.2 points per contest.
Additionally, RU averaged 16.4 assists and 6.6 blocks in the five-game span.
During the homestand, Tyler Scaife averaged 21.0 points per game, which included four of her six 20+ point games on the year.
Kahleah Copper averaged 14.2 points per game and 8.0 boards per contest, Briyona Canty handed out an average of 5.6 assists per game and Rachel Hollivay swatted away an average of 4.4 shots per game.
DOUBLING DOUBLE DOUBLES
Both Rachel Hollivay and Kahleah Copper collected double-doubles in RU's 66-55 Big Ten opening victory over Minnesota.
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 six games with five or more assists this season and is currently averaging 4.5 assists per game.
Most recently, 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.
The Scarlet Knights' top play maker has recorded 76 games in her career handing out the ball five or more times, including 15 of her 29 games last year.
Last season, had two double figure assist games in RU's 63-52 second round Big Ten Tournament win over Indiana as well as RU's victory over Northeastern on Nov. 18, 2013.
Canty's double dishing effort marked the first double-digit assist game for a Scarlet Knight since Syessence Davis dished out the ball 10 times against Providence on Jan. 16, 2013.
In addition to her 10 assists in the opening Big Ten Tournament game with Indiana, she also handed the ball out six times in the quarterfinal against Northwestern to average 8.0 assists during Big Ten post-season play.
GOLDEN TOUCH AGAINST THE GOPHERS
Tyler Scaife has put up big numbers in her two meetings with Minnesota. Scaife has averaged 25.5 points against the Golden Gophers having notched a season-high 28 points last season to go along with a game-high 23 points in the New Year's Eve victory.
SCORING LEADERS LIST
With 10 points against Minnesota on New Year's Eve, Kahleah Copper moved closer to cracking the all-time top 10 in scoring at Rutgers. She currently has 1, 491 career points, needing just nine points to become the 11th Scarlet Knight to reach 1,500 career points.
Tyler Scaife also need just seven more points to move into 23rd all-time past Tammy Sutton Brown (1997-01).
PLAYING FROM BEHIND
Rutgers is 2-3 on the season when trailing at the half.
Most recently, RU was down 33-27 at the intermission of the Big Ten opener against Minnesota, but managed to overcome the deficit enroute to its 66-55 win on Dec. 31.
The Scarlet Knights' also played come from behind against Green Bay at the Paradise Jam, trailing 22-19 at the half before emerging with a 54-43 victory to claim the tournament title.
In both come from behind victories, the Scarlet Knights trailed by as many as 11.
FIRST QUARTER KEY
The first quarter has been the key to Rutgers victories this season.
In games won, the Scarlet Knights are outscoring the opposition, 326-246, in the first half of play, including a 173-114 advantage in the first quarter.
In games lost, the opponent leads RU, 100-68, in scoring in first half, including a 58-24 edge in first quarter scoring.
BLOCK PARTY
With her season-high six blocks against Iona on Dec. 9, Rachel Hollivay moved into third place all-time at Rutgers in rejections.
The senior Scarlet Knight leads the Big Ten with 42 rejections and ranks fourth among all Division I players. She has registered 45 games in her career with three or more blocks.
Hollivay ended her sophomore season with 127 rejections which ranks her third (men or women) in blocks in a single season. Only Hamady Ndiaye (2009-10) and Roy Hinson (1982-83) on the men's side have blocked more shots in a single season, swatting away 145 and 144, respectively.
Blocked Shots
1. Sue Wicks (1984-88) - 293
2. Kia Vaughn (2005-09) - 279
3. Rachel Hollivay (2012-present) - 262
4. LaTonya Johnson (1988-92) - 248
5. Tanya Hansen (1988-92) - 245
FROM THE LINE
Junior Tyler Scaife has been clutch from the line missing just four free throws in her 44 attempts to date. She currently leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth nationally in free throw percentage, shooting at a .909 percent clip.
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-RU-
