WBB Hosts No. 25/21 Michigan State on Thursday
Feb 17 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team closes out the regular season with three of its next four games at home. The Scarlet Knights host #25/21 Michigan State on Thursday in the BLACKOUT game at 7 p.m.
| Game Twenty Seven: Rutgers (16-10, 7-7 B1G) vs. #25/21 Mich. St. (18-7, 9-5 B1G) | |
| Date | Thursday, Feb. 18 |
| Time | 7:00 p.m. EST |
| Location | The RAC | Piscataway, N.J. |
| Video | BTN Plus (Lou Brogno & Cathy Andruzzi) |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM (Ralph Bednarczyk & Mark Peterson) WRSU 88.7 FM (Gabe Sustick & Michael Antosiewicz) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Michigan State |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Michigan State |
| Tickets | ScarletKnights.com/Tickets |
| Promotions | BLACKOUT Swap for an R Two Dollar Popcorn Halftime: Drums of Thunder |
THREE-IN-A-ROW
The Rutgers women's basketball team takes its three-game win streak into Thursday night's matchup with #25/22 Michigan State for its BLACKOUT game and follows up with the annual PINKOUT/Play4Kay game against #6/6 Maryland on Sunday on ESPN2.
RU made it three in a row, and more importantly back-to-back wins on the road, on Saturday at Illinois, dispatching the Fighting Illini, 63-56, with Kahleah Copper and Rachel Hollivay both capturing double-doubles.
Copper put way a team-high 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds, while Hollivay added in 13 points along with 11 boards and four blocks.
Also in double figures against Illinois was Tyler Scaife with 13 points, while Briyona Canty registered seven assists in the win.
Including Thursday's contest with the Spartans, only four games remain on the 2015-16 regular season slate. Following the matchups with Michigan State and Maryland, the Scarlet Knights travel to Purdue for its final regular season road game on Feb. 25 on BTN before returning home for senior day versus Michigan on Feb. 28 on BTN.
ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans make their way to the RAC with an 18-7 overall mark and 9-5 record in the Big Ten. Michigan State ranks at No. 25 in the AP Top 25 and checks in at No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Michigan State has dropped three of its last four contests, including a 77-63 set back at Nebraska on Sunday in their last outing.
The Spartans are led by Ariel Powers, who is fourth among Big Ten scorers and 21st nationally at 20.7 points per game to go along with a team-leading 8.6 rebounds per game. She ranks sixth in the conference in boards per game.
Tori Jankoska is adding in 15.2 points per game along with 5.1 boards per contest, while Branndais Agee is averaging 12.0 points per game along with 5.0 rebounds per game.
Thursday's game pits two of the league's best defenses against each other. Rutgers is the Big Ten's top defense allowing just 58.0 points per game while Michigan State is third with the Spartan opposition scoring 62.0 points per game.
Additionally, Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in scoring margin, winning games on average by 14.2 points.
LAST TIME VS. MICHIGAN STATE
Junior Tyler Scaife 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 Jan. 19 at the Breslin Center.
Scaife paced all scorers with her ninth 20+ scoring game of the year. The junior guard's 24 points included a flawless 6-for-6 showing at the free throw line. Senior Kahleah Copper followed with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Classmate Rachel Hollivay 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 each.
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 stopped 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 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.
BLOCK PARTY
With five rejections at Penn State on Feb. 7, senior Rachel Hollivay became the first Rutgers women's basketball player with 300 career blocks.
Her feat was on the heels of collecting five blocks on Feb. 4 at Minnesota, to become RU women's basketball's all-time career shot blocks leader surpassing legend and former WNBA standout Sue Wicks (1984-88).
Hollivay had six rejections in RU's last home game against Northwestern, tying her season-high in the category for the fifth time this season. In the last six games, Hollivay has had four or more blocks.
The senior Scarlet Knight leads the Big Ten with 90 rejections, ranking second among all Division I players.
She also ranks second all-time among all Rutgers basketball student-athletes in career blocked shots. Only Hamady Ndiaye (2006-10) (358) and Roy Hinson (1979-83) (355) on the men's side have more career 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.
All-Time RU WBB Career Blocked Shots
1. Rachel Hollivay (2012-present) - 310
2. Sue Wicks (1984-88) - 293
3. Kia Vaughn (2005-09) - 279
4. LaTonya Johnson (1988-92) - 248
5. Tanya Hansen (1988-92) - 245
All-Time Rutgers Basketball - Men & Women - Career Blocked Shots
1. MBB - Hamady Ndiaye (2006-10) - 358
2. MBB - Roy Hinson (1979-83) - 355
3. WBB - Rachel Hollivay (2012-present) - 310
4. MBB - James Bailey (1975-79) - 304
5. WBB - Sue Wicks (1984-88) - 293
CRACKING THE TOP TEN
With her 17 points at Illinois on Saturday, Kahleah Copper became the seventh Scarlet Knight to crack the 1,700 career point mark.
Copper is currently seventh all-time in scoring at Rutgers surpassing Tanya Hansen (1988-92) last Wednesday against Northwestern.
Copper now has 1,714 points and needs 49 more points to move into sixth all-time past Caroline DeRoose (1990-94).
Teammate Tyler Scaife also continues to move up the scoring leaders list. With 24 points against Northwestern, she moved into 12th all-time surpassing Tasha Pointer (1997-01).
Scaife needs 27 more points to move up again into 11th all-time in scoring "On The Banks" past June Olkowski (1978-82) and 77 points to rack the top ten.
DOUBLING DOUBLE DOUBLES
Both Rachel Hollivay and Kahleah Copper collected double-doubles in RU's 66-55 Big Ten opening victory over Minnesota and in both victories over Illinois this season.
In Champaign on Saturday, Copper collected her ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Hollivay notched her fourth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 boards.
In round one against the Fighting Illini back on Jan. 13, Hollivay put away a season-high 14 points and career-high tying 14 rebounds. Copper meanwhile added in 15 points and 11 boards.
In the Big Ten opener with Minnesota on Dec. 21, 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. Hollivay poured in 14 points and hauled in 12 rebounds, while Copper netted 10 points to go along with 11 boards against the Golden Gophers.
HELPING HAND
Redshirt senior guard Briyona Canty has registered 14 games with five or more assists this season and is currently averaging 4.7 assists per game. She ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
PROTECTING HOMECOURT
The Scarlet Knights have had an outstanding track record of success at home. The Scarlet Knights went 11-4 at home in 2014-15, with all four setbacks against the nation's top 25 and are 10-2 this season.
Since the 2002-03 season, the Scarlet Knights have gone 169-31 (.845) at the RAC. In this last five years, RU has put together a record of 78-15 (.839) at the RAC.
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-RU-
