ESTERO, Fla. – The Rutgers women's basketball team returned to the win column in game two of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights overcame a 14-point second quarter deficit to earn a 75-64 victory over Western Michigan.

Redshirt senior Tyler Scaife captured a season-high 29 points in the victory, including a perfect 8-of-8 mark from the free throw line. Junior Caitlin Jenkins registered her first double-double as a Scarlet Knight with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Western Michigan was led by Breanna Mobley with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Marley Hill was the other Bronco in double figures with 14 in the loss.

Rutgers trailed by as many as 14 in the second quarter, but a late surge saw the Scarlet Knights trailing by only two points at the half.

A Deja Wimby layup gave the Broncos a 31-17 advantage with 4:30 left in the second quarter when RU mounted a 14-2 run to close the frame. Rutgers rattled off 14 unanswered points with four different Scarlet Knights scoring in the mix. A 3-pointer from Scaife knotted the score at 31-31 in the final minute prior to the
halftime buzzer, but Mobley knocked down a jumper on Western Michigan's final possession of the quarter to put the Broncos up, 33-31, at the intermission.

After three ties to start off the third quarter, a Ciani Cryor shot from beyond the arc gave the Scarlet Knight their first lead of the game at 42-39 at the 5:38 mark. Rutgers would never trail again.

Rutgers outscored Western Michigan 24-12 during the third quarter and went into the fourth quarter ahead by double digits at 55-45.

The Broncos made it a four-point ballgame in the closing minutes. Mobley netted five-straight points as Western Michigan trailed, 64-60, with 1:54 to go. Rutgers, however, closed the game outscoring the Broncos, 11-4, down the stretch for a double-digit victory.



The Rutgers women's basketball team will close out play in the Gulf Coast Showcase in the fifth-place game on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against Washington State. The Cougars defeated ETSU 80-76 on Saturday and opened tournament play with an 82-45 loss against No. 17/16 USF.

KNIGHT NOTES

• With the win, Rutgers head coach Stringer improved her career record to 982-391 and is 18 wins away from 1,000 career victories.
• Rutgers once against used all 14 members of the roster in Saturday's game with Western Michigan. The starting line-up of redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaifeand Kathleen Fitzpatrick, junior guard Khadaizha Sanders, redshirt junior Stasha Carey and junior center Victoria Harris for the sixth-straight game.
• Tyler Scaife had third 20+ point scoring effort of the season and 35^th of her career with her season-high 29 points. She also has led RU in scoring five of RU's six games to-date and 51 times in her career.
• With her 29 points, Scaife is now 30 points away from moving into seventh place on the all-time scoring leaders list. She currently has 1,733 career points.
• Caitlin Jenkins posted her first double-digit scoring game of her Scarlet Knight career and second double-digit rebounding effort. Her 17-point, 12-rebound performance was her first Rutgers double-double and 15^th of her career having registered 14 as a freshman at Southern Mississippi in 2015-16.
• Ciani Cryor tied her career-high with six assists. She also had six helpers as a freshman at Georgia Tech against Clemson on Feb. 14, 2016.
• Cryor also registered a season-high four steals.
• Western Michigan committed 25 turnovers tying the most miscues by a Rutgers opponent this season. It was the third game of 2017-18 a Rutgers opponent has committed 20 or more turnovers.

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