PISCATAWAY, N.J.  – The No. RV/25 Rutgers women's basketball team made it 10-straight victories with a 76-37 routing of Illinois on Wednesday night at the RAC.

The Scarlet Knights improved to a record of 15-2 overall and a 3-0 mark in Big Ten play, while the Fighting Illini fell to 9-8 overall and 0-3 in the league.

Graduate guard Nigia Greene posted a career- and game-high 18 points. Redshirt senior Tyler Scaife rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points. Junior forward Caitlin Jenkins pulled in 10 boards in the win.

Illinois was paced by Alex Wittinger with 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss.The Fighting Illini's second-leading scorer, Brandi Beasley, who entered Wednesday's contest averaging 13.1 points per game, was held scoreless going 0-of-9 from the field. 
 

Check out tonight's highlights as No. 25 #RHoops moves to 3-0 in the #B1G and 15-2 on the season following a 76-37 win over Illinois. pic.twitter.com/WuviAy84Ai

— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) January 4, 2018
 

Although Illinois would find a 5-0 lead on a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to start the game, redshirt sophomore guard Ciani Cryor kick started the Scarlet Knight offense with five-straight points to even the score. After connecting on a 3-pointer, Cryor immediately secured a steal and knocked in a layup with 5:07 on the clock.

RU held onto its lead in the slow first quarter, as Scaife capped the frame with a traditional three-point play for a 16-11 Scarlet Knight edge.

Moving into the second quarter, Rutgers controlled the lead by outscoring Illinois, 12-3, in the frame. Greene contributed two 3-pointers in the run, guiding RU to a 24-14 edge at halftime.

Returning from the intermission, the Scarlet Knights and Fighting Illini traded points through the opening half of the third quarter. Rutgers, however,  held a double-digit lead throughout. Midway through the frame, Greene used a shot from downtown to ignite an 11-0 run for a 49-22 RU advantage with 2:00 left in the quarter.

Although a Wittinger layup broke up the run, a steal by junior center Victoria Harris on the baseline inbound by Illinois set up a Jazlynd Rollins jumper, returning the energy to RU with seconds ticking in the frame. The duo immediately followed with another steal and layup combo to give RU a 55-24 lead and continued momentum heading into the fourth quarter.

From there, the Scarlet Knights held at least a 27-point lead throughout the final frame. RU would close the game on an 8-0 run capped by a 3-pointer for redshirt senior guard Kathleen Fitzpatrick to set the largest and final margin of the night at 76-37.



Up next, Rutgers remains home to host Penn State on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network with Chris Vosters and Christy Winters-Scott on the call and air on the Rutgers IMG Radio Network with Ralph Bednarczyk and Mark Peterson.

KNIGHT NOTES

• With the win, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer improved her career record to 992-392 and is eight wins away from 1,000 career victories.
• Rutgers has opened a season with three-straight Big Ten wins for the first time since joining the league in the 2014-15 season.
• The Scarlet Knights have won 10-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.
• Rutgers improved to 10-0 at the RAC this season and is in the midst of its longest home win streak since 20-straight RAC wins between Nov. 16, 2007 and Dec. 29, 2008 The Scarlet Knights opened the 2007-08 season with a home loss against Stanford but would finish the year out with 14-straight home wins. The streak continued into the next season where Rutgers won six-straight at the RAC.
• Nigia Green set a new career mark in scoring with her game-high 18 points. She surpasses her previous season-high of 11 capturing in RU's 58-50 win over Purdue on Dec. 28 and her previous career-mark of 16 set against Illinois State while at Miami back on Nov. 28, 2014.
• With Nigia Greene leading RU in scoring, it marked only the second time this season Tyler Scaife has not been RU's top scorer. Jazlynd Rollins led the Scarlet Knights with 12 points at Temple on Nov. 13.
• Tyle Scaife now has 1,969 points. She needs 31 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 Jenkins collected a game-high 10 rebounds posting her seventh double digit rebounding effort of the season. She has averaged 10.2 rebounds per game in the last six games.
• Victoria Harris tied her career-high for a fourth time with four steals. She also had four thefts earlier this season against Purdue on Dec. 28.

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