PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The Rutgers women's basketball team (6-10, 0-4 B1G) fell in a battle with No. 16/17 Maryland (12-3, 3-1 B1G) on Monday afternoon at Jersey Mike's Arena, 78-67.
Kaylene Smikle led all scorers with 29 points, setting a new career-high. She has reached double figures in 12 games this season and is averaging 23.0 points over the last four games for the Scarlet Knights. The freshman also added nine rebounds, another career-high.
Kassondra Brown was the other double-digit scorer for Rutgers, collecting 12 points on 71.4 percent shooting to celebrate her 22nd birthday. She also added seven rebounds.
Chyna Cornwell had another strong performance on the glass with 13 rebounds, her third highest total this season.
Awa Sidibe tied her career-high with six assists in the contest. She continues to share the ball well, averaging 5.8 assists over the last four games.
Rutgers had a strong presence down low, out rebounding Maryland 39-33 (+6). The Scarlet Knights also earned one more block (4-3) and scored six more points in the paint than the Terrapins (36-30).
How it Happened
- Maryland opened the game's scoring with two three-pointers, forcing an early Rutgers timeout.
- Smikle kicked off scoring for RU with her first three-pointer of the day. The opposition followed up with an 8-0 run, taking an early 14-3 lead.
- Cornwell and Kai Carter scored on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit, 16-7.
- UMD's offense didn't quit though, extending their lead to 17. Smikle added a layup to make the score 24-9 to end the opening quarter.
- A layup from Smikle and three-point play from Brown led Rutgers on a 7-2 spurt to cut the gap, 31-18.
- The two teams went onto battle as the Scarlet Knights hit 5-of-5 from the floor and the Terps cashing in on 4-of-4 from the field. Abby Streeter and Smikle led the charge, hitting three's less than a minute apart to put the game within 12 points and force a Maryland timeout at 3:14.
- Awa and Smikle netted back-to-back points to put the score within 10 points. Carter added a free throw to further cut the lead, 40-31.
- With under 30 seconds to play, Smikle added another layup to cap a 7-0 run for the Scarlet Knights and end the half with a score of 40-33. RU held UMD scoreless for the last 2:56 of the second quarter.
- Smikle stayed hot to start off the third, cashing in on another layup to cut the deficit to five, 40-35. The Terrapins quickly responded with a free throw before a tie-up forced a Rutgers timeout.
- Out of the timeout, Maryland brought their lead back up to 15, netting 10 unanswered points to force another Rutgers timeout. A pair of free throws from Cornwell ended the Terrapin's spurt.
- With five minutes remaining in the third quarter Maryland had a 52-37 edge. Rutgers continued to fight, but the Terrapins stretched their lead to 18 with just over three minutes to play.
- A field goal from Streeter and a Maryland layup finished off the third quarter scoring as the opposition headed into the final 10 minutes with the 67-44 advantage.
- Rutgers went on a 6-0 stretch to cut Maryland's lead back down to 20, but the Terrapins tacked on a pair of free throws to keep the comfortable edge.
- Streeter landed a big block which led to a three-pointer from Smikle to put the difference at 20 points. Rutgers added another four points, forcing a Maryland timeout with 2:32 to play.
- The Scarlet Knights closed out the game with a strong 12-0 run. Smikle accounted for eight of the 12 to get her to 29 total points on the day.
- Despite the effort, Rutgers fell to Maryland, 78-67.
Gallery: (1-2-2023) Rutgers vs, No. 16/17 Maryland
Knights Notes
- Smikle's 29 points set a new career-high for the freshman. Her performance marks the 12th time she has scored in double figures this season and the sixth occasion she has reached 20+ points. She is the only Scarlet Knight to pass the 20-point milestone this season.
- Smikle made four three-pointers in the game, continuing her streak of making at least one three-pointer in every game this season and has cashed in on two or more in the last five outings.
- The Scarlet Knight's 13 team assists marked their 11th double-digit performance game this season.
- Cornwell's 13 rebounds mark the fifth time this season she has collected double-digit boards. Her 145 rebounds this season is the second-most in the Big Ten. She also leads the conference in offensive rebounds with 59.
- Sidibe's six assists matches her career-high previously set against New Orleans (Dec. 18). She leads the team with 3.4 assists per game and has led RU in the statistic 10 times.
- The Scarlet Knights outrebounded their opponent for the eighth time this season, accumulated six more boards than the Terps on Monday.
- Rutgers outscored Maryland in the second quarter, 24-16, and in the fourth quarter, 23-11.
Volume Up
Next Up
Rutgers will host Nebraska on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. to celebrate Theresa Grentz Day. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. The Scarlet Knights then travel to Minnesota to take on the Gophers on Jan. 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET also on Big Ten Network.
Follow Along
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