PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's basketball carried a lead into the fourth quarter, but a late surge for Iowa saw the Scarlet Knights fall in overtime, 77-67, in their home finale and Senior Night on Wednesday at the RAC.
Prior to the contest, Rutgers honored its seniors
Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Nigia Greene, Jazlynd Rollins, and
Tyler Scaife in a senior ceremony.
Scaife poured in a new career-high 30 points, also marking her 17th 20+ scoring effort of the season. Junior
Victoria Harris followed with seven points and seven rebounds and classmate
Caitlin Jenkins added in 10 rebounds of her own.
Iowa was led by the Big Ten's leading scorer and rebounder, Megan Gutsafson, with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Chase Coley added in 20 points, while Kathleen Doyle posted 14 points and Makenzie Meyer contributed 10 to round out the double-figure scorers.
Despite falling behind 13-4 in the first quarter, Rutgers came alive in the second frame to reclaim the lead. The Scarlet Knights outscored the Hawkeyes, 21-6, in the frame, fueled by eight points from Scaife to move in front. Rutgers closed the quarter on an 13-1 run over the last five minutes, which included holding the Hawkeyes scoreless over the final 2:40 while dropping in seven answered points to take a 25-19 lead into the half.
Rutgers carried its energy into the second half, as Greene posted RU's first five points of the frame, including a 3-pointer. This sent the Scarlet Knights on a 12-5 run for their largest lead of the night 37-24 with 4:55 on the clock. Iowa countered with a 9-2 run of its own across the following three minutes of play.
Scaife tried to halt the chance of the Hawkeye comeback with a jumper and junior guard
Khadaizha Sanders, back from injury, closed the third quarter with a jumper of her own to set the Scarlet Knights' advantage at 45-36.
Iowa found an 8-4 surge to open the fourth quarter, including six-straight points. Redshirt sophomore
Ciani Cryor stopped the burst with a 3-pointer, ending a four-minute drought for RU and setting the lead at 52-44 with 4:54 on the clock.
Scaife helped hold the RU lead with a jumper and a layup to bringing the margin to 56-47. Iowa responded with a 7-0 run, including five consecutive from Doyle. A back-and-forth battle ensued on the court, as Scaife would keep the RU lead at 59-56 with a jumper and free throw with less than a minute to go.
With nine seconds left in regulation, Iowa's Doyle hit a 3-pointer. Scaife went coast-to-coast, but threw up an unsuccessful attempt. Jenkins caught the rebound, but could not secure the put back as time expired and the game headed into overtime.
The Hawkeyes carried their energy in to the extra period, going on to lead by as many as 12 points and outlasting the Scarlet Knights.
Up next, Rutgers closes out its regular season on the road at Northwestern this Sunday with tipoff at 3 p.m. (ET). Game coverage is available from BTN Plus and WRSU, the Rutgers student radio station.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers head coach
C. Vivian Stringer's career record dropped to 996-400. She is four wins away from 1,000 career victories.
- With her 30 points,
Tyler Scaife now has 2,184 career points. She needs 28 more to move into second place on the all-time list past Cappie Pondexter (2002-2006).
- Scaife's 30 points were a new career-high and marked her 17th 20+ point scoring effort of the 2017-18 campaign. Her previous high was 29 set three times over the course of her career and most recently against Penn State on Jan. 6.
-
Khadaizha Sanders, who was sidelined with an elbow injury the last three games, returned to the court for four points and five assists.
- Rutgers played in its second overtime game of the season falling to 1-1 in extra session basketball. RU is now 23-20 all-time in overtime contests.
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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