SENIOR DAY: WBB Hosts Michigan Sunday
Feb 27 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. The regular season wraps up for the Rutgers women's basketball team against Michigan at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the Scarlet Knight seniors will arrive be honored 10 minutes prior to tipoff.
| Game Thirty : Rutgers (16-13, 7-10 Big Ten) vs. Michigan (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Sunday, Feb. 28 |
| Time | 2:00 p.m. EST |
| Location | The RAC | Piscataway, N.J. |
| TV | BTN (Lisa Byington & Christy Winters Scott) |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM (Danny Breslauer & Mark Peterson) WRSU 88.7 FM (Dylan Mackinnon & Sean Griffins |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Michigan |
| Conference Game Notes | Big Ten |
| Statistics | Rutgers | Michigan |
| Tickets | ScarletKnights.com/Tickets |
| Promotions | Senior Day - 10 minutes prior to tip Mini Basketball Giveway to First 500 Fans |
SENIOR DAY
The Rutgers women's basketball team hosts Michigan on senior day on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. on BTN with Lisa Byington and Christy Winters Scott on the call. Rutgers' senior practice player PJ Moore, managers Fabio Messina, Gianna DeVeitro, Ali Hoesly and Brian Shank along with Scarlet Knights Ariel Butts, Briyona Canty, Kahleah Copper, Alana Ferruggiaro, Rachel Hollivay and Cynthia Hernandez will be honor 10 minutes prior to tipoff.
The Scarlet Knights, who meet the Wolverines for the first time all year, will be looking to end the regular season on a high note following a 74-68 overtime heartbreaker to Purdue on Thursday night.
Against the Boilermakers, Tyler Scaife registered 23 points followed by Kahleah Copper with 22 points, marking the third time this season the duo has dropped 20 or more points in a game together.
Rachel Hollivay was the other Scarlet Knight in double figures with 15 points narrowly missing a double-double with nine boards.
Additionally, Briyona Canty handed out a new career-high 12 assists.
ABOUT MICHIGAN
The Wolverines make their way to Piscataway with a 17-11 overall mark and tied for sixth place in the standings with a 9-8 Big Ten record. Michigan has won two-straight and five of its last six contests, including a 70-65 win at Northwestern on Tuesday.
On the stat sheet, Katelynn Flaherty leads the Wolverines and ranks third in the conference in scoring and eight nationally at 22.3 points per game.
Michigan boasts only one other Wolverine in double figures with Hallie Thome averaging 14.6 points per game.
Meanwhile, Jillian Dunston leads Michigan on the boards at 6.1 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME VS. MICHIGAN
The No. 21/22 Rutgers women's basketball team extended its win streak to six, defeating Michigan 57-50 at the Crisler Arena on Feb. 8, 2015 to sweep the season series with the Wolverines.
Betnijah Laney led the Scarlet Knights with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her 16th double-double performance of the season. Kahleah Copper followed with 16 points and five rebounds.
The Wolverines were led by Shannon Smith with a game-high 19 points, followed by Siera Thompson with 14 points in the loss. Leading scorer Cyesha Goree, who dropped in 23 points in the first meeting with the Scarlet Knights, was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Michigan had established a 9-2 lead five minutes in, however Laney ended the run with a three-pointer at the 14:21 mark to kick start seven straight points for the Scarlet Knights. Laney's three tied the game, 9-9, with 12:45 to go.
After Rutgers created an 18-15 lead, the contest turned into a stalemate as both teams struggled to notch a bucket for nearly three minutes. Thompson ended the Michigan drought at the 3:35 mark and cut the Wolverines deficit to one.
The Scarlet Knights would use a 4-2 run to generate a 24-19 lead with just one minute remaining in the first half. However, Michigan added on a basket in the final second to make it a three-point game, 24-21, heading into halftime.
At the start of the second half, the Wolverines pulled within one on two occasions, but Shrita Parker nailed a three-pointer to put the momentum back into to the Scarlet Knights' hands. Copper would then add on eight consecutive points to give RU its largest lead, 37-27 with 12:48 remaining. Michigan would go on to outscore Rutgers 12-6 across the next five minutes of play, as Smith contributed five of her own in the run. Despite the burst from the Wolverines, the Scarlet Knights maintained at least a five-point edge over the span and held a 45-39 lead with 7:11 left to play.
Smith, however, would light up again as she registered six uncontested points to pull Michigan within two, 47-45, with 4:19 left in the game, the closest the Wolverines had come since the start of the second half.
The teams would trade trips to the free throw line, but the Scarlet Knights held the advantage throughout.
CRACKING THE TOP TEN
With her 22 points on Thursday night against Purdue, Kahleah Copper moved up again on the Rutgers all-time scoring leaders list to sixth all-time. She surpassed Caroline DeRoose (1990-94) for the sixth position.
Copper now has 1,770 points and needs 20 more points to move into fifth all-time past Telicher Austin (1985-89) and 30 more points to become just the fourth Scarlet Knight to achieve 1,800 or more career points.
With her 17 points at Illinois on Feb. 13 Kahleah Copper became the seventh Scarlet Knight to crack the 1,700 career point mark.
Teammate Tyler Scaife also continues to move up the scoring leaders list. With 11 points against No. 6 Maryland on Feb. 21, 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 23 more points to crack the top 10 and move past WNBA All-Star and 2015 All-WNBA Second Team member Epiphanny Prince (2006-09).
HELPING HAND
Redshirt senior guard Briyona Canty has registered 15 games with five or more assists this season and is currently averaging 4.8 assists per game. She is sixth in the Big Ten.
Canty is coming off a career-high 12 assist performance against Purdue on Thursday. The 12 helpers were the most by a Scarlet Knights since Matee Ajavon handed out 13 assists against TCU on March 21, 2006.
It marked the fourth time in her career she has handed out double digits assists four times in her career.
Canty handed out six assists in helping Rutgers snap a four-game skid in a 66-56 win over Nebraska on Jan. 30. It gave her 100 assists on the year, marking the third straight season she has captured 100 or more assists. She dished out 117 total assists last season.
This season, Canty had 10 assists in RU's Big Ten opening win over the Golden Gophers.
Last season, she also 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.
Rutgers Career Assists
1. Tasha Pointer (1997-01) - *839
2. Janet Malouf (1985-89) - 718
3. Mary Coyle (1978-82) - 640
4. Matee Ajavon (2004--08) 556
5. Liz Hanson (1992-96) - 474
6. Cappie Pondexter (2002-06) - 470
7. Khadijah Rushdan (2007-12) - 464
8. Kristen Foley (1982-87) - 455
9. Briyona Canty (2011-16) - 417
10. Syessence Davis (2011-15) - 397
20/20 COURT VISION
Three times this season the duo of Kahleah Copper and Tyler Scaife have each put away 20 or more points in the same game. Two of those games have been down to the wire with overtime against Purdue on Thursday and the thrilling victory over Northwestern on Feb. 10.
On Thursday against the Boilermakers, Scaife collected 23 points followed by Copper's 22 points. Nine of Scaife's team-high 23 points came in the third quarter as RU overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to take a 45-42 advantage into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, Copper put away nine of her 22 points on the evening.
Against the Wildcats on Feb. 10, Tyler Scaife led RU with 24 points, her 11th game of the season with 20 or more points while Kahleah Copper dropped in 20 points, her eighth game this season with 20 or more points.
In the last seven games, Copper has averaged 20.6 points per game, including 20 or more points in the last two contests with No. 6 Maryland and at Purdue and in five of the last seven matchups.
Rutgers also had two 20-point performers in the season opener against St. Joseph's Nov. 13. In that contest, Copper had a then-career-high 30 points, while Scaife also netted 24 points in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Rutgers women's basketball team will head out to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 2016 Big Ten Women's Basketball Championships. Full tournament bracket will be available following the conclusion of all Sunday afternoon's Big Ten matchups.
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-
