CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Rutgers women's basketball (10-19, 3-14) concluded the 2021-22 regular season with a 66-56 win over Illinois (6-19, 1-13) on Sunday afternoon at State Farm Center.
Rutgers exploded for 23 points in the final quarter to pull away and score the double-digit victory, its second road win of the year and third win in its last five games to end the regular season.
Shug Dickson scored 19 points for the second consecutive game to lead all scorers, adding three assists.
Sayawni Lassiter connected on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to score a career-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting overall, also chipping in three assists.
Osh Brown added 12 points for the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers outshot Illinois, 48 to 32 percent, while also grabbing the 34-31 edge on the boards. Both teams shot well from the charity stripe, with Rutgers converting 15-of-17 and the Illini 14-of-16.
- Sayawni Lassiter drilled a corner three and Jailyn Mason finished a layup, sandwiching a defensive stop for the 5-0 run and a 13-11 lead. Shug Dickson made her second bucket of the opening quarter with 46 seconds left to set the first-period advantage at 15-14.
- Rutgers' defense held Illinois to 20 percent shooting in the second, but the offense committed eight turnovers in the period. So despite shooting 4-of-8 with another four points from Dickson, Illinois took a 27-25 lead into the break.
- Lassiter scored eight points in the third on a pair of triples, going 3-of-3 overall from the field. Her two threes, combined with Dickson's work at the free throw line have RU a 9-0 run for the 43-39 lead before heading to the fourth up a bucket, 43-41.
- Dickson's baseline jumper and a fast-break finish by Awa Sidibe started the fourth as Illinois called a quick timeout down 47-41. Dickson finished with eight points in the final quarter, as Rutgers got crucial stops on the other end, including Awa Sidibe's block that led to Brown's bucket and Dickson's jumper for a quick 4-0 run and a decisive 59-52 lead with 2:32 remaining.
- Shug Dickson has scored 19 points in each of her last two games to end the regular season.
- Sayawni Lassiter scored a career-high 18 points.
- Sayawni Lassiter has made at least three 3-point field goals for the third time in the last six games.
- Rutgers has outrebounded 23 of 29 opponents this season with an average margin of +5.9, which ranks third in the Big Ten.
- Double-figure scoring career marks: Brown (87th), Shug Dickson (49th), Sayawni Lassiter (7th).
- The Starting 5 of Shug Dickson, Jailyn Mason, Lasha Petree, Tyia Singleton, and Osh Brown took the floor as the starting unit for the seventh time this season.
- Rutgers is 9-1 in the all-time series dating back to 2015, winning six consecutive games against the Illini and going 4-1 in Champaign since joining the Big Ten.
Rutgers heads to the 2022 Big Ten Tournament as the No. 13 seed, facing No. 12 Penn State in the first round on Wednesday, March 2 at 2 p.m. ET.
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