EAST LANSING, MICH. –  The Scarlet Knights made free throws count and redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife blocked a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Rutgers women's basketball won its ninth game in-a-row in a 61-58 victory over Michigan State on Sunday at the Breslin Center.

A late 7-0 Michigan State run gave the Spartans a 58-55 edge with 1:41 to play, but Rutgers scored the next six points. A Scaife jumper followed by two free throws by the Little Rock, Arkansas native produced the 13^th lead change of the game and redshirt junior forward Stasha Carey went 2-of-4 from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

The Scarlet Knights improved to 14-2 on the season and 2-0 in the Big Ten, while the Spartans, a squad just ahead of RU in the receiving votes category of both major polls, snapped a six-game win streak to fall to 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the league.

Scaife finished the afternoon with a game-high 25 points, her seventh straight contest dropping in 20 or more points. Junior guard Khadaizha Sanders and redshirt junior forward Stasha Carey both contributed eight points in the win. Junior forward Caitlin Jenkins, meanwhile, hauled in a game-high 12 boards.

Michigan State was led by Sidney Cooks' 11 points, while Branndais Agee had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds

The Scarlet Knights missed their first seven shots to open the contest, but warmed up before the quarter closed. Rutgers closed out the opening stanza connecting on 8-of-13 from the floor and five lead changes later took a 17-12 lead into the second quarter.

The second quarter opened with RU going on a 5-0 run to take a double digit advantage, but it would be the Spartans closing the frame with the hot hand. The Scarlet Knights hit a nearly five minute lull with Michigan State rattling off 10 unanswered points. Sanders, however, drilled a 3-pointer to keep the Scarlet Knights ahead 29-28 at the intermission.

The Spartans reclaimed the lead early in the third quarter and a Shay Colley "and one" put MSU up 34-31 with 2:41 to go. Michigan State was unable to increase its advantage by more than three and the quarter would go on to end on a game of runs.

Rutgers rattled off an 8-0 run capped by a steal from Jazlynd Rollins with the outlet pass to Ciani Cryor and mid-air layup by Scaife to put RU ahead 41-36 at the 2:30 mark. Michigan State, however, punched back. A 7-0 Spartan run was halted on RU's final possession with another Sanders 3-pointer as the teams entered the final quarter deadlocked at 41-41.

The Scarlet Knights kicked off the fourth quarter with a 7-0 start capped by Jenkins making the "and one" for a 51-44 edge with 7:34 to go. The Spartan defense went on to hold RU to one field goal while outscoring the Scarlet Knights 14-4 and reclaim the lead and hold a 58-55 margin with 1:41 to go setting up the dramatic final moments.



The Rutgers women's basketball team returns home to the RAC, where the Scarlet Knights have won nine-straight, on Wednesday, Jan. 3 against Illinois at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on BTN Plus with Ralph Bednarczyk and Jared Smith.
 
KNIGHT NOTES

• With the win, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer improved her career record to 991-392 and is nine wins away from 1,000 career victories.
• Tyler Scaife collected her 11^th 20+ point scoring effort of the season and seventh-straight game with 20 or more points.
• Scaife now has 1,956 points. She needs 44 points to become the third Scarlet Knight to collect 2,000 career points and 256 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
• Caitlin Jenkin's 12 rebounds marked her fifth double digit rebounding game of the season. She has averaged 10.2 rebounds in the last five games.
• Ciani Cryor tied her season-high with nine assists. She also dished out the ball nine times in RU's victory over Princeton on Dec. 13. It was her sixth game of the year with five or more helpers. Cryor has averaged 6.4 assists in the last four contests.
• Rutgers has won nine-straight and is on the longest win streak since ending the season with six-straight winsto capture the 2014 WNIT title and beginning the 2014-15 season with six consecutive victories.
• Sunday marked the first Big Ten road win for the Scarlet Knights since 63-56 win at Illinois on Feb. 13, 2016. 

 
Follow Rutgers women's basketball at www.ScarletKnights.com and (@RutgersWBB) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest news and updates.