MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Rutgers women's basketball team (7-10, 1-4 B1G) will travel out to Minnesota (8-8, 1-4 B1G) for its third Big Ten road game of the season on Thursday, Jan. 12. The 8:30 p.m. ET contest will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
On the Call
- Watch on the Big Ten Network (Sloane Martin & Meghan McKeown)
- Listen on Fox Sports New Jersey 1450 AM / 93.5 FM (Ralph Bednarczyk)
Last Time Out
RU defeated RV Nebraska on Jan. 7 at Jersey Mike's Arena, 57-45, for its first Big Ten win of the season.
Kaylene Smikle led the way once again with 20 points, her 13th double digit scoring performance of the campaign. The freshman also added six rebounds and four steals.
The Scarlet Knights were strong off the glass, outrebounding the Cornhuskers 46-35. Chyna Cornwell led the team with 12 rebounds, her eighth double figure effort of the slate.
The 12-point decision marks the first Big Ten victory for head coach Coquese Washington since taking the helm of the Scarlet Knights in May.
Smikle Earns Second Big Ten Freshman of the Week Honor
Kaylene Smikle became the first freshman in program history to win two Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards in the same season after earning the award on Monday afternoon.
Smikle is also just the third player in program history to earn a conference weekly award twice in a season as Arella Guirantes did it twice (2019-20 & 2020-21).
The freshman led the Scarlet Knights to split a pair of league contests this past week, falling to then. No. 17/18 Maryland (67-78) and defeating Nebraska (57-45) for the team's first Big Ten win of the season. Smikle led scoring in both affairs, netting a career-high 29 against the Terps and 20 versus the Cornhuskers to average 24.5 points between the two outings.
In addition, the guard grabbed a career-high nine rebounds against UMD plus six boards at the hands of Nebraska to average 7.5 off the glass. She also registered two assists and 2.5 steals over the week.
First Year Phenom
Freshman Kaylene Smikle continues to impress as she paces the team with 16.7 points per game in addition to averaging 22.0 points in Big Ten play.
Smikle is the only Scarlet Knight to net 20+ points in a game, accomplishing the feat seven times, including five times off the bench.
- 22 points vs. South Dakota State (Nov. 20)
- 23 points vs. Cornell (Nov. 27)
- 21 points vs. Ohio State (Dec. 4)
- 22 points at Illinois (Dec. 7)
- 26 points vs. Princeton (Dec. 15)
- 29 points vs. Maryland (Jan. 2)
- 20 points vs. Nebraska (Jan. 7)
The freshman has reached double-digit scoring in 13 of 17 outings this campaign, including 18+ points in the last five contests.
The Farmingdale, New York product has also been solid from beyond the arc. Her 33 three-pointers lead the Scarlet Knights while her five three's against South Dakota State rank as the highest performance in a single game this season for RU. She has hit at least one three in every contest this slate and cashed in on two or more in the last six games.
Doubling Up
Chyna Cornwell has burst onto the floor this season for the Scarlet Knights as a huge presence in the post.
She leads the team with five double-doubles, tied for second in the big Ten, including back-to-back outings against Illinois (Dec. 7) and Hampton (Dec. 10):
- vs. Seton Hall – 10 points, 10 rebounds
- vs. Cornell – 11 points, 16 rebounds
- at Illinois – 10 points, 11 rebounds
- vs. Hampton – 18 points, 14 rebounds
- vs. New Orleans – 15 points, rebounds
Strong Off the Boards
In all but one win, Rutgers has secured more rebounds than the opposition. This season, RU has outrebounded its opponents 662 to 609 (+53).
The team has recorded 30+ rebounds in 15 of 17 outings and 40+ boards in eight games. The Scarlet Knights grabbed a season-high 53 off the glass against Cornell (Nov. 27) for its highest rebounding margin (+23).
Chyna Cornwell leads the Scarlet Knights off the boards, with 9.2 rebounds per game to rank second in the Big Ten. Her 16 rebounds against Cornell also measures up as the second-best single game performance this season.
Cornwell also paces the league with 61 total offensive boards.
The Scarlet Knights Against the Top-25
RU will meet six teams mentioned between the AP Top 25 and the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Polls:
- No. 3/3 Ohio State
- No. 6/6 Indiana
- No. 12/9 Iowa
- No. 17/20 Michigan
- No. 9/11 Maryland
- RV/NR Nebraska
Washington Returns to the Big Ten
The Washington era at Rutgers signals the head coach's return to the Big Ten, after serving as the head coach at Penn State for 12 seasons. From 2012-14, the Lady Lions claimed three consecutive Big Ten regular-season titles, becoming one of four programs in conference history to win three or more regular-season crowns in a row. She guided Penn State to two Sweet 16 appearances in 2012 and 2014 while developing 17 players to All-Big Ten status on 32 separate occasions.
Washington earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors three times (2012-14), WBCA Regional Coach of the Year twice (2012, 2013), and was named a finalist for WBCA National Coach of the Year two times (2012, 2013). She was also selected as the 2011 and 2014 Black Coaches Association (BCA) Female Coach of the Year.
Successful Staff
Washington won't be the only new face on the sidelines this season as she named Tasha Pointer, Nikki McCray-Penson and John Hampton assistant coaches during the offseason.
Pointer returns "On The Banks," bringing 18 total years of coaching experience, including eight seasons on the sidelines with the Scarlet Knights from 2007-15. As a player from 1997-2001, Pointer led Rutgers to the 2000 Final Four, the hallmark of a 128-game career that produced program-record totals of 839 assists and 292 steals while scoring 1,456 points. Pointer was inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, which was also her first year on the coaching staff that guided the Scarlet Knights to an NCAA Elite Eight, a Sweet 16, and a WNIT Championship during seven overall trips to the postseason.
McCray-Penson comes to Piscataway, New Jersey with 15 years of college coaching experience, most recently as a head coach at Mississippi State and Old Dominion, which followed a standout college playing career at Tennessee, nine seasons in the WNBA and two gold-medal winning performances with Team USA at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
Hampton, the former head coach at Clarkson University, has spent the last seven seasons at St. Joseph's, including the last three as the Hawks' assistant head coach. At St. Joe's, Hampton helped lead the Hawks to the postseason twice, an Atlantic 10 Tournament title game, a Hawk Classic crown, and a WNIT victory. Hampton graduated from Mansfield University in 2008, where he joined the men's basketball program as a walk-on and went on to earn the team's MVP twice in 2007 and 2008. He was selected as a PSAC All-Conference honoree as a senior.
Scarlet Knights on the Big Screen
The Scarlet Knights are set for eight appearances between the Big Ten Network and Fox Sports 1.
- vs. Ohio State – Dec. 4 – 12 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. New Orleans – Dec. 18 – 2 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Maryland – Jan. 2 – 2 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Nebraska – Jan. 7 – 2 p.m. (BTN)
- at Minnesota – Jan. 12 – 8:30 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Michigan – Jan. 19 – 8:30 p.m. (BTN)
- at Iowa – Feb. 12 – 3 p.m. (FS1)
- at Wisconsin – Feb. 20 – 8 p.m. (BTN)
- vs. Illinois – Feb. 26 – 2 p.m. *Could be flexed to B1G+
The entire Big Ten Tournament run will also be broadcast nationally.
The remaining 11 home games on the schedule not set to air on TV will be streamed on Big Ten+.
History Against Minnesota
Thursday's game with be the 13th overall meeting between the two programs. Rutgers owns the 7-5 edge in the all-time series. The teams have gone back and forth on the most recent eight decisions but the Scarlet Knights came on top in the most recent bout on the road, 79-61, on Feb. 17, 2022.
Scouting The Gophers
Minnesota is coming off a three-game skid, dropping decisions to Big Ten rivals then-No. 16/17 Maryland (85-107), then-No. 3/3 Ohio State (71-83) and Wisconsin (77-81). The Gophers last win came Dec. 22 against Eastern Illinois (59-48).
Five players in Mara Braun (16.5), Alanna Micheaux (13.3), Mallory Heyer (11.5), Katie Borowicz (10.8) and Amaya Battle (10.5) all paces the team with double-digit scoring averages. Micheaux and Heyer also lead the team off the glass with 6.9 rebounds per game.
Next Up
Rutgers will continue its time on the road as the team travels to No. 9/11 Maryland on Sunday, Jan. 15 for a 1 p.m. game.
Follow Along
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