BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Rutgers women's basketball team snapped its three-game losing streak with a thrilling 69-61 victory over Indiana at Assembly Hall on Monday night.
Rutgers improved to 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the Big Ten race. Indiana fell to 17-10 overall and 6-9 in league play.
Sophomore
Tekia Mack dropped in a career-high 24 points for the Scarlet Knights, while graduate student guard
Charise Wilson added in 16 and redshirt senior forward
Stasha Carey added 11 in the win. Additionally, redshirt junior guard dished the ball out 10 times.
Four Hoosier starters logged double digits led by Bendu Yeaney with 16 points. Kym Royster and Jaelynn Penn both had 14 points, while Brenna Wise contributed 12 points in the loss.
While in the first meeting with Indiana, Rutgers overcame a 14-point deficit, the Scarlet Knights held a seven-point halftime lead before a second half surge saw Indiana go in front by as many as seven before Rutgers came back for the win.
FIRST QUARTER
After trailing by an average of 15.5 points at the end of the first quarter in their last two outings with Maryland and Ohio State, the Scarlet Knights were ahead 16-12 at the end of the first 10 minutes of action.
Rutgers shot 7-of-15 from the floor after making only two field goals in the opening quarter of the previous two losses.
Wilson gave RU an 11-8 edge with 3:31 left in the quarter with a shot from beyond the arc and the lead which the Scarlet Knight sustained.
SECOND QUARTER
Wise completed the "and-1" for a 17-16 Hoosier edge at the 7:23 mark, but the lead would change hands three more times over the next minute. A putback by Mack and a Wilson jumper off an Indiana turnover saw the Scarlet Knights with a 22-19 advantage at the midpoint of the frame.
Mack added in six more points and Rutgers extended its lead to 32-24 off a
Sierra Calhoun 3-pointer with 1:29 left.
The Hoosiers, however, closed the gap to a point. Indiana ended the half with a 7-0 run and the Scarlet Knights held on to a 32-31 lead at the intermission.
THIRD QUARTER
The teams combined to go 0-of-10 from the floor to kick off the second half, but Indiana managed eight-straight points from the free throw line and held a 39-32 at the 5:47 mark.
Rutgers notched the first field goal of the second half at 3:02 mark as Mack tied her career-high with 13 points. Mack's bucket started a 5-2 surge for the Scarlet Knights who trailed 41-37 with 2:04 left in the stanza.
While Indiana's Yeaney responded with a 3-pointer to put the Hoosiers up by seven, Rutgers closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run. Free throws by Carey and
Arella Guirantes combined with a made shot from downtown by Mack saw RU trail by one, 45-44, heading into the final 10 inutes of play.
FOURTH QUARTER
Three-point shooting put Rutgers back out in front to start the final frame. Guirantes gave the Scarlet Knights back the lead off a three to start off final quarter scoring and Mack sunk her third shot from long range to give RU a 50-47 edge with 7:48 left.
Rutgers extended its lead to as many as six three times. A Wilson layup saw RU lead 61-55 with 1:44 to go but free throws by Penn and a fast break by Yeaney saw the Scarlet Knights hold onto a two-point lead.
Yeaney had a chance to cut the Indiana deficit down to one, but missed the "and-one". Despite the offensive board for the Hoosiers,
Victoria Harris came away with the block to keep the Scarlet Knights up.
UP NEXT
The Rutgers women's basketball team is back out onto the road for its lone meeting with Michigan on Thursday at 7 p.m.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers has held all 25 opponents to date under their scoring average. The Hoosiers entered the game averaging 70.2 and was held to 61 points.
- Tekia Mack notched a career-high 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including a 4-of-4 performance from 3-point range. Her previous high this season was eight at Minnesota on Feb. 3, while her previous career-high was 13 vs. South Carolina during the Gulf Coast Showcases on Nov. 24, 2017. It was the first time the sophomore has led the Scarlet Knights in scoring.
- Ciani Cryor ended the night with 10 assists, marking the fourth time this season she has captured double-digit assists.
- Victoria Harris led Rutgers with eight rebounds. It was the fifth time she led the team on the boards this season and 16th time in her carer.
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