PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The No. 25 Rutgers women's basketball team extended its win streak to 11 straight fending off Penn State in a 70-65 victory on Saturday afternoon at the RAC.

RU remains undefeated at home on the season at 11-0 and improved its overall record to 16-2 and a Big Ten mark of 4-0, while PSU fell to 10-7 overall and 1-3 in league action.

Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife matched her career-high with 29 points and is now two points away from hitting her 2,000^th career point. Graduate guard Nigia Greene followed 16 points, as redshirt junior forward Stasha Carey nearly eclipsed a double-double with 10 rebounds and nine points in the win.

Penn State was paced by Teniya Page with a team-high 24 points followed by Amari Carter with 18. Jaida Travascio-Green rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points, while De'Janae Boykin recorded 11 rebounds in the loss.



The Scarlet Knights and Lady Lions opened the contest trading points before RU broke away to a 17-7 lead at the 3:18 mark in the first quarter. PSU, however, countered with a 7-0 run, as Page capped the surge with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to pull within three, 17-14, at the end of the first.

Penn State carried the momentum into the second quarter, making it a one-point game at 17-16. Greene would stump the surge with a jumper, igniting another back-and-fourth battle as RU held onto the lead at 24-20 midway through the frame.

Two free throws and a jumper for the Lady Lion's Carter tied the contest for the first time at 24-24. Carey countered with two free throws of her own to return the lead to RU. The Scarlet Knights would  hold on to a 28-26 advantage though at the break.

Returning from halftime, Rutgers rattled off a 10-2 run, including back-to-back made shots from beyond the arc and a jumper for Scaife to set the score at 40-28 with 4:22 on the clock in the third. RU led by at least eight for the remainder of the quarter. Scaife closed the frame with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer of her own for a 50-37 Scarlet Knight edge moving into the fourth quarter.

Although Scaife opened the fourth with a jumper, PSU's Page countered with a bucket from 3-point range. Greene,  however, responded with a shot from downtown to hold the RU lead at 55-40 with 8:03 left in the frame.

The teams entered another back-and-fourth battle with RU controlling the lead. With 3:51 to go in the game, Lady Lion Travascio-Green used a jumper to set off a 9-2 burst allowing Penn State to pull within one. Following a 3-pointer for Page, teammate Siyeh Frazier secured a steal on the ensuing Scarlet inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast for a layup that set the margin at 64-63 with 30 seconds remaining on the clock.

Scaife and Greene went a combined 6-for-6 at the charity stripe, as Greene tacked on the final free throw to seal the 70-65 victory.



Up next, Rutgers hits the road for its final of two meetings with Purdue on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET in West Lafayette, Indiana with coverage available on BTN Plus and WRSU, Rutgers' student radio station.

KNIGHT NOTES

• With the win, Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer improved her career record to 993-392 and is seven wins away from 1,000 career victories.
• The Scarlet Knights are off to their best start at 16-2 overall since the 2007-08 campaign. That season, RU opened the season at 17-2 and finished with a 27-7 overall record reaching the Sweet 16.
• Rutgers has opened the conference season with four-straight Big Ten wins for its best conference opening streak since kicking off the American Athletic Conference slate in 2013-14 with four-straight wins.
• The Scarlet Knights have won 11-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 11-0 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.
• Tyler Scaife now has 1,998 points. She needs two points to become the third Scarlet Knight to collect 2,000 career points and 227 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
• It was Scaife's 12^th 20+ point scoring effort of the season. She has netted 20 or more points in eight of the last nine games.
• Stasha Carey was just shy of her second double-double as a Scarlet Knight with nine points and 10 rebounds.
• Ciani Cryor handed out a game-high seven assists marking her sixth game of the year with five or more helpers. She has averaged 5.7 assists over the last six games.
• Caitlin Jenkins was just short of her third-straight and eighth overall double-digit rebounding game. She is currently hauling in 10.0 rebounds per Big Ten Conference contest.
• Penn State is only the sixth team that has committed fewer than 20 turnovers versus the Scarlet Knights this year. The Lady Lions committed 19 miscues.

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