Women's Basketball Welcomes The Wildcats on Sunday
Jan 27 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team welcomes Northwestern to the RAC on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The first 500 fans will receive a Rutgers luggage tag and the 1982 AIAW and 1987 Atlantic 10 Championship teams will be honored at halftime. Prior to the game in the lobby, former Scarlet Knight Sue Wicks will be signing autographs and fans can register to save a life by joining the international bone marrow registry.
| Game Twenty Two: Northwestern (15-5, 4-3 Big Ten) | |
| Date | Sunday, Jan. 29 |
| Time | 2 p.m. EST |
| Location | The RAC | Piscataway, N.J. |
| Video | BTN Plus (Jared Smith) |
| Radio | Rutgers IMG Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM (Ralph Bednarczyk & Mark Peterson) WRSU 88.7 FM (Ryan Moran and Sean Griffin) |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Rutgers | Northwestern | Big Ten |
| Stats | Rutgers | Northwestern |
| Tickets | ScarletKnights.com/Tickets |
| Promotions | Outstanding Student Day Luggage Tag Giveaway for First 500 Fans Sue Wicks Autographs in Lobby Bone Marrow Registry Drive in Lobby Halftime: 1982 & 1987 WBB Team Recognition |
HONORING TEAMMATES & FRIENDS
The Rutgers women's basketball team is looking to get back on track after a week of rest with the first of two matchups with Northwestern on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Rutgers will be honoring the 1982 AIAW National Championship Team on its 35th anniversary and the 1987 Atlantic 10 Championship Team on its 30th anniversary at halftime.
Additionally, throughout the game fans, have a chance to join the International Bone Marrow Registry in the lobby. A simple swab inside the cheek is all that is needed to join the registry and potentially be a life saving match. The drive is in honor of former Scarlet Knights manager Gianna DeVeitro, who underwent a bone marrow transplant two months ago in her battle with leukemia.
Read more about Gianna DeVeitro here.
Read more about the 1982 AIAW National & 1987 Atlantic 10 Championship Teams here.
Last weekend, RU had a close opening half and was able to erase a 20-point deficit into single digits in its battle with No. 3 Maryland. Junior Jazlynd Rollins netted a career-high 15 points and classmate Shrita Parker led RU with 17 points in the 80-71 setback.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
The Wildcats come to the RAC with a 15-5 overall record and 4-3 Big Ten mark and are receiving votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls.
Northwestern had a two-game win streak snapped on Wednesday with an 80-54 loss at Michigan.
Nia Coffey leads the Wildcats averaging a double-double at 19.4 ppg and 11.1 rpg. Coffey is fifth in the league in scoring and second in rebounding.
Following Coffey on the stat sheet is Christen Inman at 13.8 ppg. Inman however has been on the sidelines the last two games.
Ashley Deary rounds out the double figure Wildcat scorers at 11.4 ppg. She also leads the Big Ten in assists per game averaging 6.9 per matchup.
The Wildcats lead the Big Ten in blocks averaging 6.1 per contest with Coffey and Lauren Douglas ranked among the top ten in the category.
LAST TIME VS. NORTHWESTERN
Tyler Scaife scored the game-winning basket with two seconds remaining in the game as the Rutgers women's basketball team outlasted Northwestern in claiming a 61-59 win on Feb. 10, 2016 at the RAC.
Trailing 59-56, Scaife knocked in a three-pointer to tie the game with less than a minute remaining to tie the game for the ninth time. After the Wildcats' Maggie Lyon responded with a three-pointer, Briyona Canty drained a three-pointer of her own to tie the game, 59-59, with 11 seconds on the clock.
On the following Northwestern possession, Rutgers' all-time blocks leader Rachel Hollivay knocked away the potential go ahead bucket by Nia Coffey. Classmate Kahleah Copper came up with the rebound to set up a layup from Scaife to hand RU the win.
Scaife posted a game-high 24 points, while Copper added in 20 points and eight rebounds. Hollivay registered a game-best six blocks in the win.
Northwestern was led by Coffey and Lyon with 19 points each. Christen Inman followed with 11 points of her own to round out the double-figure scorers.
Despite the Wildcats tying the score 29-29 at the start of the third quarter, Rutgers generated a 7-0 burst, capped by three straight points from Scaife, to expand its lead to 36-29. A back-and-fourth battle played out on the court, as the Wildcats managed to the tie the score, 38-38, midway through the frame.
The score would be knotted on three more occasions as RU denied NU's threat to take the lead, keeping the scoreboard balanced 44-44 at the end of the third quarter.
A jumper from Lyon would put Northwestern up 46-44 after failing to claim the edge in its three attempts prior, but not for long as Hollivay tied the count for the fourth time across the last five minutes of play. Although a three-pointer from Coffey kept the edge for the Wildcats, a jumper from Scaife backed by a three-pointer from Copper put the Scarlet Knights back in front, 51-49 with 8:01 remaining in the game.
Northwestern countered with back-to-back three-pointers from Coffey and Lyon to create the largest lead, 55-51, for either team since the 6:23 mark in the third quarter. The Wildcats would extend their lead to 56-51 on a free throw from Jonas, but Copper countered with a layup to bring the margin within three with 1:44 to go in the game setting up the dramatic final moments.
ALL THAT JAZZ
Jazlynd Rollins captured a new-career high with 15 points in RU's contest at No. 3 Maryland last Sunday. The junior Scarlet Knight was 6-of-7 from the floor, including a 3-of-3 performance from 3-point range.
Rollins reset her previous high of seven at St. John's on Dec. 7.
Rollins' three-point shooting kept the game close with the third-ranked Terps over the first two quarters. She nailed back-to-back 3's to make it a one-point game, 31-30, with six seconds remaining until the break.
SHRITA'S SCORING
Shrita Parker has been on fire since Big Ten play started. Against conference competition, the junior guard is averaging 16.1 ppg, including a career-high 20 points in back-to-back games against Iowa on Jan. 17 and Michigan State on Jan. 14.
Against the Spartans, Parker became the third Scarlet Knight to reach 20 or more points in a game this season. She had nine points following the first quarter of play and 16 points at the intermission.
Parker had tied her former career mark of 18 points against Penn State in the conference home opener on Dec. 31. Against the Lady Lions on New Year's Eve, Parker shot a blistering and career-best 70% (7-of-10) from the floor.
Parker followed by going 3-of-4 from 3-point range in the next game against Wisconsin, as one of four Scarlet Knights to connect from distance.
BOUNCING BACK
Sophomore guard Aliyah Jeune rebounded from a scoreless game against Illinois on Jan. 7 to average 12.5 ppg in the last four contests.
After not scoring against the Fighting Illini, Jeune had 15 points against the Cornhuskers on Jan. 10 and 13 points versus the Spartans and Jan. 14.
Jeune's 15 points at Nebraska were the most points against a Big Ten opponent in her two seasons at Rutgers. Scoring 11 of her 15 points in the first half, she finished the night going 6-of-13 from the floor (.462), including 3-of-6 (.500) from beyond the arc.
She followed with her second-straight double digit effort collecting 13 points, going 4-of-6 (.667) from the floor, including a 3-of-4 (.750) mark from downtown.
More recently, Jeune netted 13 points against No. 3 Maryland on Jan. 22.
So far in 2016-17, Jeune has connected on 50 percent or better from 3-point range five times, including three of the last six games.
Jeune has connected on three or more 3's in five of RU's eight Big Ten contests to date. In the last four games, she has gone 10-of-24 (.417) from 3-point range.
THE HANDOFF AND TAKE AWAY FROM KK SANDERS
Over the last ten contests, KK Sanders has averaged 6.0 assists per contest.
Sanders had a 10-assist performance against Seton Hall on Dec. 13. Prior to her 10 helpers against the Pirates, the last Scarlet Knight to hand out 10 or more assists was Briyona Canty with 12 in an overtime battle at Purdue on Feb. 25, 2016.
More recently, Sanders handed out nine assists in the win over Michigan State on Jan. 14.
Sanders is averaging 4.6 assists on the year placing her in a tie for eighth in the Big Ten.
Opponent offenses may also want to watch out for the Kankakee, Illinois native who is averaging 2.5 steals per game, which is tied for second in the Big Ten.
Sanders most recently tied her career benchmark in the category with five against Iowa on Jan. 17. She has also had five thefts at Houston on Dec. 10 and again on New Year's Eve with Penn State. She previously had a career-high four thefts at Elon and Virginia earlier this season.
PROTECTING HOMECOURT
The Scarlet Knights have had an outstanding track record of success at home. The Scarlet Knights went 12-5 at home in 2015-16, with four of the five setbacks against team featured in the polls (Top 25 - Ohio State, Maryland, Michigan State; Receiving Votes - St. John's; Not Ranked: Virginia).
Since the 2002-03 season, the Scarlet Knights have gone 179-39 (.821) at the RAC.
UP NEXT
The Rutgers women's basketball team opens up the month of February closing out the season series with Iowa. The Scarlet Knights meet the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, Iowa on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. (ET).
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-RU-
