Saturday, January 27
Bloomington, Ind.
1:00 PM
Rutgers University
at
Indiana
Women's Basketball Back On The Road To Indiana
Jan 25 | Women's Basketball
Scarlet Knights Look To Bounce Back Against the Hoosiers on BTN on Saturday at 1 p.m.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's basketball team heads back out onto the road and will look to bounce back against Indiana on Saturday in a 1 p.m. tipoff on BTN. Calling the game on BTN will be Mike Monaco and Brenda VanLenegan, with coverage also available from WRSU, Rutgers' studio radio station, with Sean Griffin and Jake Ostrove providing all the action.
CLOSING OUT JANUARY
The Rutgers women's basketball team has dropped two games in-a-row for the first time all season and will look to return to the win column on Saturday in front of a national BTN audience in the Scarlet Knights' lone meeting with Indiana.
RU is coming off a 52-42 setback to Nebraska, a contest featuring two teams vying for the title of biggest turnaround from last season. Rutgers pulled within three at 45-42 with 5:56 to go, but the Cornhuskers kept the Scarlet Knights scoreless over the final stretch.
Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife led all scorers but was the only Scarlet Knight in double figures with 20 points. Redshirt junior Stasha Carey, meanwhile, hauled in a team-best eight rebounds and registered five steals, one shy of her career mark set in the previous game at Penn State.
ABOUT INDIANA
The Hoosiers welcome the Scarlet Knights to Assembly Hall with a 10-12 overall mark and 3-6 record in Big Ten play. Indiana has won two-straight with 69-65 win at Michigan State last Saturday and a 69-55 home win over Wisconsin on Wednesday night.
Senior guard Tyra Buss is the Big Ten's fifth leading scorer leading the Hoosiers with 20.3 points per game. Buss, along with RU's Tyler Scaife, are among the active leading scorers in the nation and among the four Big Ten players with over 2,000 career points. Additionally, Buss is seventh in the Big Ten in assists dishing out 4.7 per contest.
Following Buss on the stat sheet is senior forward Amanda Cahill, who is pouring in 14.5 points per game along with a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per contest. Cahill ranks ninth in the league in the rebounding category.
Junior forward Kym Royster is averaging 10.7 points per outing along with a team-second best 6.4 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Jaelynn Penn rounds out the Indiana double figure scorers at 10.0 points per game.
FLIRTING WITH THE TOP 25
Rutgers has appeared in the Top 25 polls this season for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Currently, the Scarlet Knights are receiving votes in both polls.
The Scarlet Knights cracked the top 25 of the Associated Press Poll in the week nine poll on Jan. 8 checking in at No. 21. It was RU's first appearance in the AP's rankings since March 2, 2015.
Rutgers came in at No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll on week eight on Jan. 2 and has ranked as high as No. 19. It was the Scarlet Knights first appearance since ranking at No. 23 in the final poll of the 2014-15 season.
TOP 16 REVEAL
The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee provided the first of three regular season top-16 rankings in seed order on Thursday evening with the Scarlet Knights listed at No. 15.
The Jan. 18 ranking is the first of three top-16 rankings that will be revealed by the committee during the 2017-18 regular season. In addition, two other top-16 reveals are scheduled this season to take place on Thurs., February 1 and Monday, Feb. 19.
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee - January 18 – Top-16 Ranking*
1. UConn (No. 1 seed – Albany)
2. Mississippi State (No. 1 seed – Kansas City)
3. Louisville (No. 1 seed – Lexington)
4. Oregon (No. 1 seed – Spokane)
5. Tennessee
6. Notre Dame
7. Texas
8. South Carolina
9. Baylor
10. Ohio State
11. Florida State
12. UCLA
13. Missouri
14. Texas A&M
15. Rutgers
16. Georgia
* Rankings based on games played through Tuesday night, January 16.
STRINGER MILESTONE NUMBERS TO REMEMBER
Rutgers head coach Stringer has compiled a 994-395 career record in 47 seasons and is six wins away from joining the elite 1,000 career victories club in women's basketball.
Stringer's 34 20-win seasons are second-best in women's basketball history. Former Tennessee head coach Pat Summit leads all coaches with 36 20-win seasons.
SCAIFE MILESTONE NUMBERS TO REMEMBER
Tyler Scaife's game-high 24 points in 23 minutes against Princeton on Dec. 13 propelled the redshirt senior into third place on the Rutgers all-time scoring leader list past former teammate Kahleah Copper (2012-16).
In the next game on Dec. 16, Scaife's steal leading to behind the back bucket that was featured on ESPNW's Top Ten Plays of the Week, pushed her past the 1,900 career point mark.
With nine points at Purdue on Jan. 10, Scaife became the third Scarlet Knight to collect over 2,000 career points joining Rutgers greats Sue Wicks and Cappie Pondexter in the club.
Scaife currently needs 150 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
Scaife has scored 451 points this season and kicked off the 2017-18 campaign 10th all-time in scoring.
Scaife is also among the active leading scorers in Division I:
1 Kelsey Mitchell , Ohio St. 3,048
2 Katelynn Flaherty , Michigan 2,531
3 Victoria Vivians , Mississippi St. 2,144
4 Jasmine Nwajei , Syracuse 2,137
5 Tyler Scaife , Rutgers 2,062
6 Kolby Morgan , Tulane 2,060
7 Tyra Buss , Indiana 2,047
8 A'Ja Wilson , South Carolina 2,039
9 Kahlia Lawrence , Mercer 2,020
10 Carlie Wagner , Minnesota 1,970
GETTING THE POINTS
Rutgers is enjoying one of its highest scoring averages under C. Vivian Stringer's 23-year tenure "On the Banks"
Top RU Scoring Averages Under C. Vivian Stringer
1. 70.0 (35 games) 1998-99 – 29-6 – Elite Eight
2t. 68.7 (32 games) 2014-15 - 23-10 - 2nd Round
2t. 68.7 (32 games) 1997-98 – 22-10 – Sweet 16
4. 67.3 (29 games) 2002-03 – 21-8 – 2nd Round
5. 67.1 (21 games) 2017-18 - 17-5 - Current Season
6. 66.2 (37 games) 2013-14 – WNIT Champions
7. 65.6 (31 games) 2000-01 – 23-8 – 2nd Round
MOST IMPROVED TEAM
Rutgers is on pace to become the NCAA Division I Most Improved Teams in 2017-18.
16-17: 17-18:
1. Rutgers (+11) 6-24 17-5
2t. Nebraska (+8) 7-22 15-6
3. Butler (+7) 6-25 13-8
4t. Ala. A&M (+6) 2-25 8-10
4t. Denver (+6) 6-24 12-10
4t. UC Irvine (+6) 5-26 11-8
7. Fla. Atlantic (+5) 4-25 9-7
8t. UTEP (+4) 8-23 12-6
8t. Lafayette (+4) 4-28 8-11
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
As a team, Rutgers appeared in the top 25 in seven categories including ranking second in steals (277) and ninth in steals per game (12.6) and blocked shots (122).
Individually, redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife is second nationally in field goals made (176), third in field goals attempted (387) and fifth in total points (451).
B1G SPEAKING
You can find Rutgers leading the Big Ten in scoring defense (55.4), 3-point field goal defense (.297), and steals (12.6) and second in field goal defense (.362), 3-point field goal defense (.297), blocked shots (5.5) and turnover margin (+6.1).
Among conference peers:
- Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife is fourth in scoring (20.5) and fifth in free throw percentage (.844).
- Junior forward Caitlin Jenkins is 14th in rebounding (7.6) and sixth in blocks (1.6).
- Redshirt junior forward Stasha Carey is eighth in steals (1.9) and 12th in rebounding (7.7)
NEWCOMER FACTOR
Certainly the new faces on the court have contributed significantly to Rutgers resurgence.
Of the 42.3% of the scoring (625 of 1,476 total points) and 54.8% of the rebounding (460 of 840 total rebounds) come from Scarlet Knights playing in their first season in Scarlet.
D-D-D-DEFENSE
The defense has turned up the pressure this season and currently leads the Big Ten in scoring defense holding opponents to just 55.6 points per game. All 21 opponents to date have been held under their scoring average.
Avg. Entering Total Pts.
Team: Game w/ RU: vs. RU:
JMU 70.2 63
Temple 96.0 67
Charlotte 70.5 54
Wake Forest 71.7 51
So. Carolina 88.2 78
Wash, St. 69.7 64
Siena 67.3 63
NC State 71.9 53
Virginia 63.2 43
Seton Hall 81.1 45
FDU 63.0 35
Princeton 65.8 50
Houston 73.9 57
Purdue 68.8 50
Mich. St. 79.6 58
Illinois 64.8 37
Penn State 70.4 65
Purdue 66.1 47
Minnesota 86.2 70
Penn State 80.1 80
Nebraska 70.9 52
STOP THIEF
In addition to having a double-double against the Lady Lions on Jan. 18, redshirt junior forward Stasha Carey set a new career-high with six steals.
Carey's six thefts also tied for the most by a Scarlet Knight player this season. Junior center Victoria Harris had six steals in last week's contest at Purdue.
Carey is currently eighth in the Big Ten in steals at 1.9 per game and in the last three games has averaged 4.7 steals.
UP NEXT
Following Saturday's contest with the Hoosiers, Rutgers will trek to College Park for the first of two meetings with the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday, Feb. 1.
CLOSING OUT JANUARY
The Rutgers women's basketball team has dropped two games in-a-row for the first time all season and will look to return to the win column on Saturday in front of a national BTN audience in the Scarlet Knights' lone meeting with Indiana.
RU is coming off a 52-42 setback to Nebraska, a contest featuring two teams vying for the title of biggest turnaround from last season. Rutgers pulled within three at 45-42 with 5:56 to go, but the Cornhuskers kept the Scarlet Knights scoreless over the final stretch.
Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife led all scorers but was the only Scarlet Knight in double figures with 20 points. Redshirt junior Stasha Carey, meanwhile, hauled in a team-best eight rebounds and registered five steals, one shy of her career mark set in the previous game at Penn State.
ABOUT INDIANA
The Hoosiers welcome the Scarlet Knights to Assembly Hall with a 10-12 overall mark and 3-6 record in Big Ten play. Indiana has won two-straight with 69-65 win at Michigan State last Saturday and a 69-55 home win over Wisconsin on Wednesday night.
Senior guard Tyra Buss is the Big Ten's fifth leading scorer leading the Hoosiers with 20.3 points per game. Buss, along with RU's Tyler Scaife, are among the active leading scorers in the nation and among the four Big Ten players with over 2,000 career points. Additionally, Buss is seventh in the Big Ten in assists dishing out 4.7 per contest.
Following Buss on the stat sheet is senior forward Amanda Cahill, who is pouring in 14.5 points per game along with a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per contest. Cahill ranks ninth in the league in the rebounding category.
Junior forward Kym Royster is averaging 10.7 points per outing along with a team-second best 6.4 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Jaelynn Penn rounds out the Indiana double figure scorers at 10.0 points per game.
FLIRTING WITH THE TOP 25
Rutgers has appeared in the Top 25 polls this season for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Currently, the Scarlet Knights are receiving votes in both polls.
The Scarlet Knights cracked the top 25 of the Associated Press Poll in the week nine poll on Jan. 8 checking in at No. 21. It was RU's first appearance in the AP's rankings since March 2, 2015.
Rutgers came in at No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll on week eight on Jan. 2 and has ranked as high as No. 19. It was the Scarlet Knights first appearance since ranking at No. 23 in the final poll of the 2014-15 season.
TOP 16 REVEAL
The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee provided the first of three regular season top-16 rankings in seed order on Thursday evening with the Scarlet Knights listed at No. 15.
The Jan. 18 ranking is the first of three top-16 rankings that will be revealed by the committee during the 2017-18 regular season. In addition, two other top-16 reveals are scheduled this season to take place on Thurs., February 1 and Monday, Feb. 19.
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee - January 18 – Top-16 Ranking*
1. UConn (No. 1 seed – Albany)
2. Mississippi State (No. 1 seed – Kansas City)
3. Louisville (No. 1 seed – Lexington)
4. Oregon (No. 1 seed – Spokane)
5. Tennessee
6. Notre Dame
7. Texas
8. South Carolina
9. Baylor
10. Ohio State
11. Florida State
12. UCLA
13. Missouri
14. Texas A&M
15. Rutgers
16. Georgia
* Rankings based on games played through Tuesday night, January 16.
Congrats to our 5 Rutgers University Fall Semester Scholar Athletes, and to Victoria Harris and Kathleen Fitzpatrick for making the Dean's List. #Racademics pic.twitter.com/p3x6Q7jO8q
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 25, 2018
STRINGER MILESTONE NUMBERS TO REMEMBER
Rutgers head coach Stringer has compiled a 994-395 career record in 47 seasons and is six wins away from joining the elite 1,000 career victories club in women's basketball.
Stringer's 34 20-win seasons are second-best in women's basketball history. Former Tennessee head coach Pat Summit leads all coaches with 36 20-win seasons.
SCAIFE MILESTONE NUMBERS TO REMEMBER
Tyler Scaife's game-high 24 points in 23 minutes against Princeton on Dec. 13 propelled the redshirt senior into third place on the Rutgers all-time scoring leader list past former teammate Kahleah Copper (2012-16).
In the next game on Dec. 16, Scaife's steal leading to behind the back bucket that was featured on ESPNW's Top Ten Plays of the Week, pushed her past the 1,900 career point mark.
With nine points at Purdue on Jan. 10, Scaife became the third Scarlet Knight to collect over 2,000 career points joining Rutgers greats Sue Wicks and Cappie Pondexter in the club.
Scaife currently needs 150 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
Scaife has scored 451 points this season and kicked off the 2017-18 campaign 10th all-time in scoring.
Scaife is also among the active leading scorers in Division I:
1 Kelsey Mitchell , Ohio St. 3,048
2 Katelynn Flaherty , Michigan 2,531
3 Victoria Vivians , Mississippi St. 2,144
4 Jasmine Nwajei , Syracuse 2,137
5 Tyler Scaife , Rutgers 2,062
6 Kolby Morgan , Tulane 2,060
7 Tyra Buss , Indiana 2,047
8 A'Ja Wilson , South Carolina 2,039
9 Kahlia Lawrence , Mercer 2,020
10 Carlie Wagner , Minnesota 1,970
GETTING THE POINTS
Rutgers is enjoying one of its highest scoring averages under C. Vivian Stringer's 23-year tenure "On the Banks"
Top RU Scoring Averages Under C. Vivian Stringer
1. 70.0 (35 games) 1998-99 – 29-6 – Elite Eight
2t. 68.7 (32 games) 2014-15 - 23-10 - 2nd Round
2t. 68.7 (32 games) 1997-98 – 22-10 – Sweet 16
4. 67.3 (29 games) 2002-03 – 21-8 – 2nd Round
5. 67.1 (21 games) 2017-18 - 17-5 - Current Season
6. 66.2 (37 games) 2013-14 – WNIT Champions
7. 65.6 (31 games) 2000-01 – 23-8 – 2nd Round
MOST IMPROVED TEAM
Rutgers is on pace to become the NCAA Division I Most Improved Teams in 2017-18.
16-17: 17-18:
1. Rutgers (+11) 6-24 17-5
2t. Nebraska (+8) 7-22 15-6
3. Butler (+7) 6-25 13-8
4t. Ala. A&M (+6) 2-25 8-10
4t. Denver (+6) 6-24 12-10
4t. UC Irvine (+6) 5-26 11-8
7. Fla. Atlantic (+5) 4-25 9-7
8t. UTEP (+4) 8-23 12-6
8t. Lafayette (+4) 4-28 8-11
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
As a team, Rutgers appeared in the top 25 in seven categories including ranking second in steals (277) and ninth in steals per game (12.6) and blocked shots (122).
Individually, redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife is second nationally in field goals made (176), third in field goals attempted (387) and fifth in total points (451).
B1G SPEAKING
You can find Rutgers leading the Big Ten in scoring defense (55.4), 3-point field goal defense (.297), and steals (12.6) and second in field goal defense (.362), 3-point field goal defense (.297), blocked shots (5.5) and turnover margin (+6.1).
Among conference peers:
- Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife is fourth in scoring (20.5) and fifth in free throw percentage (.844).
- Junior forward Caitlin Jenkins is 14th in rebounding (7.6) and sixth in blocks (1.6).
- Redshirt junior forward Stasha Carey is eighth in steals (1.9) and 12th in rebounding (7.7)
NEWCOMER FACTOR
Certainly the new faces on the court have contributed significantly to Rutgers resurgence.
Of the 42.3% of the scoring (625 of 1,476 total points) and 54.8% of the rebounding (460 of 840 total rebounds) come from Scarlet Knights playing in their first season in Scarlet.
D-D-D-DEFENSE
The defense has turned up the pressure this season and currently leads the Big Ten in scoring defense holding opponents to just 55.6 points per game. All 21 opponents to date have been held under their scoring average.
Avg. Entering Total Pts.
Team: Game w/ RU: vs. RU:
JMU 70.2 63
Temple 96.0 67
Charlotte 70.5 54
Wake Forest 71.7 51
So. Carolina 88.2 78
Wash, St. 69.7 64
Siena 67.3 63
NC State 71.9 53
Virginia 63.2 43
Seton Hall 81.1 45
FDU 63.0 35
Princeton 65.8 50
Houston 73.9 57
Purdue 68.8 50
Mich. St. 79.6 58
Illinois 64.8 37
Penn State 70.4 65
Purdue 66.1 47
Minnesota 86.2 70
Penn State 80.1 80
Nebraska 70.9 52
STOP THIEF
In addition to having a double-double against the Lady Lions on Jan. 18, redshirt junior forward Stasha Carey set a new career-high with six steals.
Carey's six thefts also tied for the most by a Scarlet Knight player this season. Junior center Victoria Harris had six steals in last week's contest at Purdue.
Carey is currently eighth in the Big Ten in steals at 1.9 per game and in the last three games has averaged 4.7 steals.
UP NEXT
Following Saturday's contest with the Hoosiers, Rutgers will trek to College Park for the first of two meetings with the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday, Feb. 1.
Follow Rutgers women's basketball at www.ScarletKnights.com and (@RutgersWBB) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest news and updates.
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