PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers women's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 B1G) will welcome Wagner (0-0, 0-0 NEC) to Jersey Mike's Arena for its second consecutive home game on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on B1G+ and you can listen on Fox Sports New Jersey 1450 AM / 93.5 FM or WRSU.  

Last Time Out 

Rutgers defeated Monmouth (0-1, 0-0 CAA), 56-51, on Monday night at Jersey Mike's Arena to open its 2023-24 campaign. Junior transfer Destiny Adams led the way for the Scarlet Knights, recording her first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. 

Chyna Cornwell secured the 10th double-double of her career with 10 points and 10 rebounds to reinforce her strong presence on the glass that she displayed a season ago.   

Mya Petticord also recorded a big game in her Rutgers debut, scoring a game-high and career-best 17 points. The sophomore transfer from Texas A&M also registered a career-high six rebounds.  

Freshman Lisa Thompson made her collegiate debut, recording seven points in 24 minutes to provide a spark off the bench.  

The Hawks jumped out to a lead early to get things going, but the Scarlet Knights quickly recovered, using a 6-0 run to take an 8-5 lead at the first quarter's 5:28 minute mark. RU never looked back from there, holding the advantage throughout the rest of the contest.  

Rutgers put its defensive skills on display, grabbing 11 steals in addition to 30 defensive rebounds, adding to its total 53 boards. 

It's Destiny 

Adams made quick the impression in here Rutgers debut on Monday night, showing off a powerful and versatile style of play. 

Her opening night performance made noise in the Big Ten as well, as her 17 rebounds currently pace the conference. She also leads the league in defensive rebounds per game (11.0) and is tied for first in offensive boards per game (6.0).  

Adams, along with Cornwell, are just two of five players in the Big Ten to record double-doubles in their first games of the season.  

Strong Off the Boards 

The Scarlet Knights are picking up where they left off last season with a strong presence on the boards.  

In the season opener against the Hawks, RU already matched its single-game high for rebounds with 53. The performance was better than any other Big Ten team in the season opener as Rutgers currently leads the conference in total rebounds as well as offensive rebounds per game (23.0).  

2022-23 Season recap 

In a season of discovery, Coquese Washington set a solid foundation for Rutgers in her first season at the helm during the 2022-23 campaign. She led RU to a 12-20 overall record including five Big Ten wins.  

Washington guided the Scarlet Knights to their 1,000th win in program history with a road victory over Minnesota (Jan. 12), becoming just the 22nd Division I team and the third squad in the Big Ten to reach the milestone. In the same game against the Gophers, Washington also picked up her 100th Big Ten win.  

Washington helped guide freshman guard Kaylene Smikle to greatness, as she was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team (Media & Coaches) and the Big Ten All-Freshman team (Media & Coaches). The guard also collected three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, the most in program history. Under Washington's direction, Smikle became Rutgers' all-time leading freshman scorer, ending the season with 573 points to best the previous high of 536 points. She is the third freshman in program history to amass 500+ points.  

Chyna Cornwell also achieved greatness as she was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Media) as well as earning the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. In a breakout season, Cornwell paced RU with nine double-doubles, including four in Big Ten play. Her 16 rebounds against Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament set the new Big Ten Tournament program high, which was set in 2015 by current WNBA superstar Betnijah Laney. The Conover, North Carolina native led the team with 274 total rebounds to rank third in the Big Ten in addition to 105 offensive boards to finish second in the league.   

50 Seasons 

The Rutgers women's basketball team will celebrate its 50th season in program history during the 2023-24 campaign. Since the first season in 1974, the Scarlet Knights have proved they are a nationally elite program. The program has made 26 NCAA Tournament appearances in addition to four Sweet Sixteens, five Elite Eights, two Final Fours and one National Championship game.  

The Scarlet Knights will honor their rich tradition "On The Banks" throughout the season with various special promotions. 

The Scarlet Knights Against the Top-25 

Rutgers is currently slated to face six opponents currently ranked in the AP/USA Today/WBCA Coaches Polls. 

• No. 3/3 Iowa* 
• No. 7/6 Ohio State* 
• No. 8/5 Virginia Tech 
• No. 9/9 Indiana* 
• No. 14/11 Maryland*  
• No. 23/RV Illinois*  

*Big Ten contest 

Nebraska is also receiving votes in both polls while Princeton is receiving votes in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll.  

Home Sweet Home 

RU will compete in 13 nonconference games this season before jumping into Big Ten play on Saturday, Dec. 9 against Indiana. Of the 13 games, Rutgers will play nine at their home court of Jersey Mike's Arena.  

The only time the team will leave the Banks will be to travel to in-state rivals Seton Hall (Nov. 15) and Princeton (Dec. 13) in addition to the South Point Classis to face Texas Tech (Nov. 24) and Boise State (Nov. 25) in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Successful Staff 

Along with Washington, assistant coaches Tasha Pointer and John Hampton will also be returning to the sidelines this season for the Scarlet Knights. There will also be some new faces as well, with the additions of Nneka Enemkpali and Jeanine Wasielewski to the staff. 

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.  

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.   

Enemkpali comes to Piscataway after two seasons at Southern California where she also served as the Recruiting Coordinator. While with the Trojans, Enemkpali led efforts to sign the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class. She also helped USC make strides on the court as she coached the 29th overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, Kadi Sissoko, to all All-Pac 12 honors. In addition, Enemkpali guided Rayah Marshall to All-PAC 12 and All-Defense honors as a sophomore. She went on to be selected to represent USA at the 2023 Americup games. Enemkpali is a 2015 graduate of Texas, where she earned three All-Big 12 selections and finished ranked No. 10 all-time in career rebounds (899) and No. 30 in career points (1,116). 

Prior to joining the Scarlet Knights, Wasielewski was most recently the head coach at Southwestern Michigan College. She led the revival of the women's basketball program there, after a 25-year hiatus. In the program's first season back to competition in 2022-23, she recruited and coached a team of all freshmen to an 18-9 overall record, a 13-1 record on their home court and a third-place finish in conference that earned the squad a postseason tournament bid. She also spent time at Saint Francis (PA), Penn State under Washington, Loyola Chicago and MSU Denver. During her own collegiate player career, Wasielewski was a four-year letter winner at Northwestern University. She was a key contributor on the 1990 Big Ten Championship team, participated and advanced in two NCAA Tournaments and posted back-to-back 20-win seasons. 

Returning to The Banks 

The Scarlet Knights return six big contributors from last season including, Kaylene Smikle, Antonia Bates, Awa Sidibe, Erica Lafayette, Kassondra Brown and Chyna Cornwell.  

The group combined for 1,684 points and Smikle, Cornwell, Sidibe and Brown were the top four scorers during the 2022-23 campaign. The same group were the top-four rebounders last season as well, combing for 747 boards.  

Transferring In 

Rutgers welcomed two transfers in the offseason in junior Destiny Adams from UNC and sophomore Mya Petticord from Texas A&M.  

Last season at UNC, Adams played in all 33 games and made four starts, while averaging 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game. She ranked 16th in the ACC in steals (1.5 per game) and 23rd in blocks (0.8 per game), both second on the team. A graduate of Manchester Township High School, Adams was the 2020-21 Gatorade New Jersey Girls Basketball Player of the Year. She was also named to the Jordan Brand Classic 2021 Girls National Team and the 2021 McDonald's All-American Girls Team. In addition, Adams was ranked 20th in the ESPNW Class of 2021.  rankings  

For the Aggies last season, Petticord appeared in 21 games season and made one start. She averaged just over 15 minutes of playing time per outing. Petticord was a four-star recruit and No. 81-ranked prospect according to ESPNW in the 2022 class. She led her team to the 2022 Division III State Title and was named the Michigan Associated Press Division III Player of the Year.  

Featuring Freshman 

RU also brought in three freshmen to join the team this upcoming campaign, with the addition of Jillian Huerter, Lisa Thompson and Kennedy Brandt.  

Prior to the 2021-22 season, Huerter went to Shenendehowa High School where she helped guide her team back-to-back two Section 2 Championships (2019 & 2020) as well as a Suburban Council Championship in 2021. While at Shenendehowa, she also averaged 15.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists before going into her final year of high school ball at the Kent School.  

Thompson led her team at Example Academy to the 2023 Independent National Championship. Prior to her time at Example Academy, Thompson attended Joliet West High School, where she also guided her squad to three consecutive conference championships her first three seasons. She was named a McDonald's All-American Nominee as well as earning an invite to the USA Women's U17 World Cup Team Trials. 

Brandt graduated from Glenbard West High School. She averaged 15 points, five rebounds and three assists per game and was selected as the Glenbard West Female Athlete of the Year. She was also a two-time All-Area and All-Conference pick as well as an All-State selection.  

Scarlet Knights on the Big Screen 

Rutgers will appear on national television seven times this season with six scheduled contests on the Big Ten Network and one on Fox Sports 1. 

• vs. Auburn – Saturday, Nov. 12 – 5 p.m. (BTN) 
• vs. Indiana – Saturday, Dec. 9 – 4 p.m. (BTN) 
• vs. Virginia Tech – Sunday, Dec. 17 – 5:30 p.m. (FS1) 
• vs. Iowa – Friday, Dec. 5 – 6 p.m. (BTN)
• at Ohio State – Thursday, Jan. 11 – 6 p.m. (BTN) 
• vs. Maryland – Tuesday, Feb. 6 – 8:30 p.m. (BTN) 
• vs. Minnesota – Tuesday, Feb. 13 – 7 p.m. (BTN) 

Theme Games 

Rutgers will celebrate multiple theme games throughout the season. More theme games and details will be released as each individual contest approaches.   

• Nov. 6 – vs. Monmouth – Opening Day 
• Nov. 12 – vs. Auburn – Nikki McCray-Penson Day 
• Nov. 18 – vs. Saint Francis – Food Drive 
• Nov. 19 – vs. Delaware State – Recess Game 
• Dec. 9 – vs. Indiana – Blackout Game 
• Dec. 17 – vs. Virginia Tech – Holiday Hoops/Youth Spirit Game 
• Jan. 5 – vs. Iowa – Scarlet Out Game 
• Feb. 6 – vs. Maryland – Black Excellence Game 
• Feb. 17 – vs. Wisconsin – Play4Kay Game 
• March 3 – vs. Northwestern – Senior Day/Thank You Fans 

History Against Wagner 

Rutgers owns the 6-0 all-time edge over Wagner. The two teams first met in 1977 when the Scarlet Knights came out on top, 73-43. Since then, they met once again in 1984 before rekindling the series in 2002, 2013 and 2014.  

In their last meeting in 2014 at the Wagner Christmas Classic Final, RU defeated the Seahawks, 81-53.  

Scouting the Seahawks 

Thursday's contest will serve as Wagner's 2023-24 season opener. They did face The City College of New York City on Monday, Nov. 6 in an exhibition, coming out with the 118-13 win.  

The Seahawks will be without top scorers and rebounders from last season but do return their fifth best scorer from last season in Julia Fabozzi (7.2 ppg).  

Looking Ahead 

Rutgers face Auburn on Sunday, Nov. 12 (5 p.m.) in the final leg of its three-game homestand.  

Follow Along    

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