PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women's basketball (7-8, 0-3) erased a 21-point deficit and tied the game before a heartbreaking buzzer-beater by Purdue (10-4, 1-2) to hand the Boilermakers a 60-58 victory on Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena.
Down 21 points midway through the third quarter, Rutgers turned up the defense and
Victoria Morris led the offense to outscore Purdue, 30-12, over the final 14 minutes of the game. Morris' clutch jumper with 47 seconds left in the game cemented the comeback and tied the game at 58, but Purdue would have the last chance following a Rutgers turnover with three seconds remaining. Purdue advanced the ball on a timeout and Jeanae Terry drove the lane and banked a layup to beat the buzzer.
Morris led all scorers on Sunday with 16 points, while
Destiny Marshall had her highest output in a Rutgers uniform with nine, while
Chyna Cornwell also notched a career-high nine points.
Osh Brown grabbed six rebounds and
Sayawni Lassiter swiped five steals for the Scarlet Knights, tying a career-best set earlier this season.
Rutgers outrebounded an opponent for the 13
th time in 15 games, winning the battle on the boards, 33-29. The Scarlet Knights scored most of its points in the paint (36) and from the free throw line (14-of-18), but a slow start from the field (.267 in the first half) forced Rutgers to play from behind.
- Six different Scarlet Knights combined for five buckets (all in the paint) and a free throw, but Purdue hit four three-pointers early for an 18-11 lead.
- Back-to-back threes for the Boilermakers midway through the second handed the home team its first double-digit lead at 26-15.
- After a Sayawni Lassiter hoop-and-harm to start the half, Purdue rattled off a 10-0 run and led by 20 at 41-21 three minutes into the third. Rutgers responded with a 10-0 spurt of its own with six made free throws to set up the dramatic fourth quarter.
- Destiny Marshall grabbed a loose ball and ran the floor to finish with a three-point play, capping a 7-0 Rutgers stint to bring the Scarlet Knights within four at 54-50. The RU defense held Purdue scoreless for nearly five minutes as Osh Brown and Victoria Morris combined for a final 6-0 run, including Morris' midrange jumper to tie it at 58-58 with 47 seconds left in the game. Following a Purdue turnover with a chance to take the lead, Rutgers also turned it over on a game-winning attempt with three seconds left. The Boilermakers advanced the ball on a timeout with just enough time for Jeanae Terry to bank home a buzzer-beating layup for the win.
- Sayawni Lassiter swiped three or more steals in a game for the seventh time this season – tying her career-high with five steals against Purdue. With 45 games played before transferring to Rutgers, Lassiter did not have a single 3+ steal game since becoming a Scarlet Knights, and now has seven this season.
- Chyna Cornwell scored a career-high nine points, passing her best of eight set against Delaware State on Dec. 12, 2021.
- Sayawni Lassiter has passed out 15 assists over last three games while in the starting lineup.
- Rutgers has outrebounded 13 of 15 opponents this season with an average margin of 7.4.
- The Scarlet Knights held Purdue 11 points under its season scoring average. Rutgers has held opponents under their scoring average in 32 of its last 34, and 119 of its last 129 dating back to 2017-18.
- Double-figure scoring career marks: Morris (72nd).
- Rutgers is undefeated at 7-0 when outscoring opponents in points off turnovers and points on the fast break. RU is now 0-8 when trailing in those specialty categories, losing those battles to Purdue.
- The Starting 5 of Sayawni Lassiter, Jailyn Mason, Joiya Maddox, Tyia Singleton, and Osh Brown was the 10th different starting variation employed by acting head coach Timothy Eatman this season.
- Rutgers is 8-6 against Purdue all-time and 6-4 as Big Ten regular season opponents. The Scarlet Knights had their five-game winning streak in the series snapped.
- Shug Dickson, Awa Sidibe, Liz Martino, and Kierra Sanderlin were unavailable for the game, as were two assistant coaches and a support staff member.
Rutgers returns to Jersey Mike's Arena for its first home game since Dec. 18 when Minnesota visits Piscataway for a Big Ten game on Thurs., Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. on B1G+.
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