WBB Road Finale at Purdue
Feb 24 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team hits the road one last time this regular season for its lone meeting with Purdue on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The game will on BTN with Mike Wolf and Vera Jones on the call.
| Game Twenty Nine: Rutgers (16-12, 7-9 Big Ten) at Purdue (17-10, 8-8 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Thursday, Feb. 25 |
| Time | 6:30 p.m. EST |
| Location | Mackey Arena | West Lafayette, Ind. |
| TV | BTN (Mike Wolf & Vera Jones) |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM (Ralph Bednarczyk) WRSU 88.7 FM (Alex Esposito & Andrew Fafalios) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Purdue |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Purdue |
ONE FOR THE ROAD
The Rutgers women's basketball team heads into the final week of the season with two games left on the 2015-16 regular season slate. As the regular season comes to a close, the Scarlet Knights can finish anywhere between sixth and 10th place in the league heading into the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
RU travels to Purdue for its lone meeting of the year with the Boilermakers on Thursday on BTN at 6:30 p.m. with Mike Wolf and Vera Jones on the call. The contest will mark the final road game of the regular season.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off back-to-back losses against the Top 25 including a heartbreaking 70-67 loss to Michigan State and a 73-59 setback to No. 6 Maryland in the annual Play4Kay contest.
Against the Terps, Kahleah Copper had a game-high 23 points, while Rachel Hollivay and Tyler Scaife both added in 11 points. Shrita Parker also contributed 10 points to round out the double figure scorers in the loss.
ABOUT PURDUE
The Boilermakers enter Thursday's contest at 17-10 overall and 8-8 in Big Ten action.
Purdue currently sits in a three-way tie for sixth place along with Nebraska and Michigan with two games to go.
Most recently, the Boilermakers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 68-50 victory at Nebraska on Sunday.
Purdue is led by April Wilson at 14.5 points per game and is followed on the stat sheet by Ashley Morrissette at 12.6 points per game. Bridget Perry rounds out the Boilermakers in double digits, pouring in 11.0 points per game to go along with a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME VS. PURDUE
The No. 18/17 Rutgers women's basketball team muscled its way inside to a 78-49 victory over Purdue on Feb. 13 in the annual Play4Kay contest.
The Scarlet Knights pounded the ball into the paint for 50 points as Kahleah Copper notched a game-high 24 points. Betnijah Laney followed with 16 points. Tyler Scaife poured in 14 of her own and Rachel Hollivay added on 12 to round out the double figure scorers.
Purdue leading scorer Whitney Bays, who entered the game averaging 14.9 points per game, was limited to six points. Bays went 4-of-6 from the line and only 1-of-9 from the field, but hauled in a game-high 10 boards. Bridget Perry was the lone Boilermaker in double figures with 13 points.
Neither team was able to achieve a sizeable advantage early as by the eight minute mark the score had been tied six times with seven lead changes. At the hands of three Boilermaker turnovers, the Scarlet Knights found an 8-1 run to establish a 26-18 advantage with 3:33 to go.
The Scarlet Knights, who had 10 first half steals, saw back-to-back thefts from Cynthia Hernandez and Briyona Canty to help give RU a 30-23 edge with one minute remaining. Laney then drained a three to give the Scarlet Knights their largest lead of the opening stanza at 33-23, as Rutgers headed into the locker room with a 10-point advantage.
Purdue would outscore Rutgers, 11-6, to open the second half and what was once a double-digit lead for the Scarlet Knights was cut down to two. With Purdue threatening a lead change, trailing 39-37 with 14:20 to go, RU responded with eight uncontested points to expand its lead to 47-37 at the 11:53 mark. Rutgers would go on to outscore Purdue, 20-5, over nearly a 14 minute span, creating a 69-44 lead with 3:36 remaining in the game.
With 1:16 left on the clock, Laney dropped in her second three-pointer of the game to give RU its largest lead of the afternoon, 76-48.
CRACKING THE TOP TEN
With her 17 points at Illinois on Feb. 13 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) on Feb. 10 vs. Northwestern.
Copper now has 1,748 points and needs 15 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 11 points against No. 6 Maryland on Sunday, Scaife became the 12th Scarlet Knight with 1,500 career points and moved into 11th on the scoring leaders list past June Olkowski (1978-82).
Scaife needs 46 more points to crack the top 10 and move past WNBA All-Star and 2015 All-WNBA Second Team member Epiphanny Prince (2006-09).
UP NEXT
Following Thursday's matchup, the Scarlet Knights return home to host Michigan on senior day. The lone meeting with the Wolverines will air on BTN at 2 p.m.
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-
