MADISON, WIS. – In a game of runs, the Rutgers women's basketball team broke away in the second half to claim a 63-50 victory at Wisconsin on Wednesday night at the Kohl Center.

RU improved to an overall record of 19-9 and a Big Ten mark of 7-7, while Wisconsin fell to 9-18 overall and 2-12 in league play.

Redshirt senior Tyler Scaife poured in a game-high 25 points from off the bench for her 16^th 20+ scoring effort of the season. Redshirt junior Stasha Carey followed with 12 points and redshirt senior Kathleen Fitzpatrick contributed a season-high nine points off the bench as well.

Wisconsin was led by Marsha Howard with 12 points with Suzanne Gilreath following with nine points in the loss.

Despite Wisconsin opening the game with six consecutive points, Ciani Cryor stumped the run with a 3-pointer, sending Rutgers on a 9-4 run of its own to cut the margin to one,10-9, at the 3:42 mark. The Badgers, however, countered with seven straight points to close the first quarter with a 17-9 advantage.

Wisconsin's Gilbreath gave the Badgers a 22-11 advantage off a 3-pointer at the 9:02 mark of the second quarter, it would be her team's final field goal for the next 8:41. Rutgers countered with a 10-0 run with eight of those points coming from the hands of Scaife helping to pull RU within one, 22-21. The Badgers, however, were able to secure successful trips to the free throw line to move back in front 26-21 with 1:18 to go until the break and pushed its edge to 28-25 moving into halftime.

The Scarlet Knights found its rhythm returning from intermission, using an 8-2 burst to go ahead, 31-30, midway through the third quarter. The teams would enter a back-and-forth battle on the court, with three ties and three lead changes before Rutgers would control the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers for Fitzpatrick closed the frame with a 41-37 lead to return the advantage to Rutgers for good.

Scaife carried the momentum into the final frame with five straight points of her own, growing the lead to 46-27. Wisconsin, however, countered with four consecutive points to pull within five. It would be as close as the Badgers would come though as the Scarlet Knights went on to lead by as many as 14 and hits seven of hit from the stripe en route to victory.



Up next, Rutgers returns home to host Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 21 for its regular season home finale at the RAC. Prior to the 7 p.m. tipoff, RU will honor its senior Scarlet Knights – Scaife, Fitzpatrick, Jazlynd Rollins, and Nigia Greene. The game will be streamed on BTN with Lou Brogno and Jared Smith on the call. The game will also air on the Rutgers IMG Radio Network with Ralph Bednarczyk and Mark Peterson.
 
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer's career record improved to 996-399. She is four wins away from 1,000 career victories.
- With her 25 points, Tyler Scaife now has 2,154 career points. She needs 58 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
- Scaife captured her 16th 20+ point scoring effort of the 2017-18 campaign.
- Scaife also set a new season-high with four steals. Her previous high was three against Western Michigan in the Gulf Coast Showcase back on Nov. 25.
- Kathleen Fitzpatrick set a new season-high with nine points. Her previous high was six against then-No. 11/10 Maryland on 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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