PISCATAWAY, N.J. - In game that saw 11 lead changes and six tied scores, Rutgers used a fourth quarter closing surge to steam past Purdue for a 58-50 victory in its Big Ten opener on Thursday afternoon at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights improved their win streak to eight-straight games.

RU moved to a record of 13-2 overall and a conference mark of 1-0, while Purdue fell to 9-6 overall and 0-1 in league action.

Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife recorded her 10th overall and sixth consecutive 20+ scoring game of the season with 23 points in the win. Graduate student guard Nigia Greene added 11 points of her own, including a 3-for-3 performance from 3-point range. Overall, eight different Scarlet Knights contributed points in the victory.

Purdue was paced by Kristin McLaughlin and Andreona Keys with 13 points each in the loss.



After a low scoring first quarter that saw the Boilermakers take a 14-9 lead, Scaife got Rutgers rolling with a jumper to set off a 16-2 burst for the Scarlet Knights. Greene capped the surge with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 22-16 RU lead with 6:20 left in the second quarter. While Purdue responded with seven-straight points, another Greene 3-pointer halted the run.

The teams traded the lead in the final minute prior to the halftime horn, as Purdue's McLaughlin connected from downtown at the buzzer to give the Boilermakers a one-point edge, 28-27, at the break.

Returning from the intermission, the teams continued to trade the lead as neither team would find a lead larger than three with a tied score at 37-37 midway through the third quarter. The Scarlet Knights would find a 7-2 run to take the largest lead of the frame at 44-39 with 0:37 on the clock. Keys, however, completed a three-point play for Purdue to make it a two-point game heading into the final quarter.

The Boilermakers opened the fourth frame with a 4-1 run thanks to Dominique Oden and Lamina Cooper each going 2-for-2 at the charity stripe for a 46-45 Purdue lead with 5:15 remaining in the game. A Khadaizha Sanders jumper returned the lead to RU for good though and a three-point play by Scaife grew the RU lead to 50-46 with less than two minutes to go.

Purdue pulled within two again with a pair of free throws for Oden, but that was as close as the Boilermakers would come as the Scarlet Knights countered with an 8-2 surge to hold on for the win.



Up next, Rutgers hits the road for its first conference road contest at Michigan State on New Year's Eve. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. ET in East Lansing with streaming available from BTN Plus.

KNIGHT NOTES:

• Rutgers improved to 3-1 in Big Ten openers and 3-1 in Big Ten home openers since joining the conference in the 2014-15 season.
• With the win, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer improved her career record to 990-392 and is 10 wins away from 1,000 career victories.
• Tyler Scaife collected her 10^th 20+ point scoring effort of the season and sixth-straight game with 20 or more points.
• Scaife now has 1,931 points. She needs 69 points to become the third Scarlet Knight to collect 2,000 career points and 281 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
• Nigia Greene posted a Scarlet Knight-high of 11 points in the victory. Her previous scoring high was nine in the 101-35 win over FDU on Dec. 10. In the last seven games, the graduate student has averaged 6.6 points per game.
• Khadaizha Sanders dished out a season-high nine assists and was one helper shy of tying her career mark of 10 captured in last season's win over Seton Hall on Dec. 13, 2016. Sanders has averaged 6.3 assists in the last four contests.
• Rutgers has won eight-straight and is on the longest win streak since ending the season with six-straight wins to capture the 2014 WNIT title and beginning the 2014-15 season with six consecutive victories.
• The Scarlet Knights have won nine-straight at the RAC marking the longest home win streak since winning nine in-a-row between March 1, 2010 and Jan. 22, 2010.

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