EVANSTON, Ill. — The Rutgers women's basketball team (6-9, 0-2 B1G) fell to Northwestern (6-7, 0-2) on the road Saturday evening. The close game featured 11 lead changed and five ties.
Lisa Thompsson and Kassondra Brown both set season highs with 17 points, respectively. Mya Petticord also reached double-digit points in her first game back, netted 12. In addition, both Destiny Adams and Chyna Cornwell followed closely behind with nine points apiece.
The Scarlet Knights won the battle off the glass, out-rebounding the Wildcats, 38-29. RU held NU to just eight offensive boards on the day. Cornwell paced the team with eight rebounds while Brown added six.
How it Happened
- Lisa Thompson got the game started with four consecutive points, hitting a jumper and then two shots from the line. Northwestern quickly followed up with a three-pointer to make he score 4-3.
- Neither team found the basket again until minutes later at the 6:58 mark, when the Wildcats hit two free throws to take the 5-4 lead.
- The advantage didn't last long however as Thompson netted two more consecutive baskets to keep RU in front, 8-7.
- Rutgers went on to outscore Northwestern 10-1 and take the 18-9 lead, forcing the opposition to use its first timeout with 2:23 to play in the first quarter. Petticord added five points in the run.
- Out of the stop, the Wildcats went on a 4-0 stretch of their own to cut the difference, 18-13. However, the Scarlet Knights stayed strong to end the period, answering with five points of their own to go up, 23-17.
- NU began the second period with a quick transition layup as RU used its first timeout of the day. Out of the break, Rutgers came out on the offensive, outscoring Northwestern 6-2 to stay in front by 10, 29-19.
- The two teams traded trips up and down the floor, but at the halfway point of the quarter, the Wildcats recorded four unanswered points to lessen the gap, 33-28.
- Brown put an end to the streak with two free throws and Thompson added one of her own to make the score, 36-29. NU came back with three consecutive layups to make it a one-point game, 36-35, with 1:25 to go in the opening half.
- In the final moments of the quarter, Northwestern recorded five points to Rutgers' four, to keep it close heading into the locker room, 40-38.
- The Wildcats came out in the third quarter with a layup to quickly tie up the contest, 40-40. The opponent went ahead to overtake the 44-41 lead with just under eight minutes to play.
- Layups from Brown and Adams in addition to a free throw from Jillian Huerter put RU back in front, 46-44 with just under six minutes left in the third period.
- At the 4:42 media timeout, Northwestern regained the slight advantage, 49-48.
- The Scarlet Knights surged back to end the third with a 14-7 run to take back control, 62-56. The stretch included a clutch three-point-play from Adams.
- NU came out in the final quarter hot once again, netting back-to-back layups and a jumper to once again knot the score, 62-62. The team then added two from the charity stripe to get back in front by one possession with 7:01 left in the game.
- Both teams continued to trade buckets back and forth, but Northwestern remained in front, 69-64, at the 4:59 media timeout.
- Cornwell hit two shots from the line to cut the difference back to five, but the Wildcats kept piling on, adding two buckets in a row to extend their edge, 75-66, and forced the Scarlet Knights to use their third timeout with just over three minutes left.
- After the break in action, Brown got the rebound and the score for her 17th point of the day. Cornwell followed up with another tough layup to further cut the gap to six, 76-70.
- However, Northwestern hung on to win the outing 77-70.
Knights Notes
- After scoring 12 points against La Salle, 10 against Indiana, 14 at Princeton, 15 against Virginia Tech and now 17 against Northwestern, Brown has now recorded 10+ points in five consecutive outings. The graduate student has reached double figures in six contests this campaign.
- Thompson's 17-point performance marked the fourth double figure outing of the season.
- Petticord led the squad with three assists, marking the third time she has paced the team in the statistic this season.
- RU recorded more second chance points (14-7) and more points off the bench (23-12).
Next Up
Rutgers will continue its Big Ten road trip, traveling to face Purdue on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.
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