PISCATAWAY, N.J. – After receiving a first-round bye, the Rutgers women's basketball team will host Army in the second round of the WNIT on Sunday, March 23 at 2 p.m.
The game will be available to stream on B1G+ as well as available to listen to on Fox Sports NJ.
WNIT Breakdown
Rutgers has made two appearances in the WNIT, amassing a 7-1 record. The Scarlet Knights most recently made the tournament in 2016, advancing to the second round and were crowned champions in 2014, defeating UTEP.
Here is the schedule for each round of the WNIT:
Round 1 - March 20-22, 2025
Round 2 - March 23-25, 2025
Super 16 - March 26-28, 2025
Great 8 - March 29-31, 2025
Fab 4 - April 1-2, 2025
Championship - Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 3 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
Last Time Out
The No. 15-seeded Scarlet Knights couldn't get past No. 10 seed Nebraska (21-11, 10-8 B1G), falling 84-60 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on March 5.
Destiny Adams paced all players on the floor with 25 points, in addition to 10 rebounds for her 15th double-double.
Awa Sidibe and Mya Petticord also netted 11 points each.
All-B1G Praise
Destiny Adams and Kiyomi McMiller were both selected for Big Ten Postseason Awards, announced on the Big Ten Network Tuesday afternoon.
For the second season in a row, Adams has been selected to the All-Big Ten Second team (Coaches & Media) while McMiller was chosen as an Honorable Mention (Media).
Awa Sidibe was also named the Rutgers women's basketball Sportsmanship Honoree.
The Second Team All-Big Ten nod is the second of Adams's career as she was also named to the Second Team (Coaches) and as well as an Honorable Mention (Media) last season.
It Is Her Destiny
Senior Destiny Adams continues to amaze as RU enters the postseason.
Her efforts were recognized as she was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association 2024-25 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Midseason Watch List.
Adams is currently averaging 17.9 points to rank sixth in the Big Ten and 9.6 rebounds to rank fourth. Her 2.54steals per game are also tied for first across the conference, as well.
She has reached double-digits in 26 games this season, including 17 of the last 18 outings. She has accumulated seven 20-point games and three with 30 or more points. Her 15 total double-doubles are the third highest in the Big Ten.
The Manchester, New Jersey product became the 38th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone with her performance against Minnesota (Jan. 8). With 1,256 points she currently ranks 25th on the all-time scoring list.
Following the first week of the season, Adams earned the first Big Ten Player of the Week (Nov. 11) honor in her career in addition to being selected as one of the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week and an AP Player of the Week Honorable Mention.
The start of the season was highlighted by her historic performance over NJIT (Nov. 10), when she recorded a career best 36 points and 22-rebound double-double. Besides her 2024 Big Ten Tournament performance (33 points, 24 rebounds), she is the first player in program history with 30+ points and 20+ rebounds in a regular season game in over 12 seasons.
Adams' 36 points ties a Jersey Mike's Arena record that was previously set by Arella Guirantes in 2020. She also tied for 8th for the most points in a single game in program history, along with Guirantes and Caroline DeRoose (1994).
In addition, Adams had 30 points and 15 boards in the game prior versus Cornell (Nov. 7), to make her the first Scarlet Knight since Sue Wicks (1988) to net back-to-back 30+ point games.
In the final game of the regular season versus Penn State (March 2), she recorded 19 points, 14 rebounds and a career best seven assists. She is the first Scarlet Knight (man or woman) in 15 seasons to reach those marks as well as the only women's player in the Big Ten this season.
Successful Alumni
Rutgers women's basketball celebrated three of its most distinguished alums during the offseason as Kahleah Copper earned a gold medal in the 2024 Olympic Games with Team USA, Benijah Laney-Hamilton was crowned the 2024 WNBA Champion with the New York Liberty and Cappie Pondexter was named to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the 2025 Class.
Copper helped Team USA to its eighth straight gold medal and her first, with a 67-66 win over France on August 11. Copper came up huge off the bench in the gold medal game with 12 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter to help secure the victory.
Laney-Hamilton also made history with the Liberty, bringing the first WNBA Championship to New York. She played a huge role in game two of the series, netting 20 points in addition to two rebounds and two assists to give the Liberty its first victory of the series. In addition, she scored at least two points in the other four games.
The 5-9 guard who played for Rutgers from 2001-06, Pondexter was the fourth Scarlet Knight in women's basketball history to be named a First Team Kodak/WBCA All-American as well as the unanimous choice as the 2006 BIG EAST Player of the Year and the first player in league history to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team four times during her career. Pondexter is a two-time WNBA champion (Phoenix Mercury '07 & `09), a seven-time WNBA All-Star and a three-time All-WNBA First Team selection.
The Scarlet Knights Against the Top-25
Once again, Rutgers faced a loaded schedule, featuring a tough Big Ten slate. As of March 21, RU has four former opponents on its schedule ranked in either or both the AP and WBCA USA Today poll and three teams only receiving votes.
- No. 1/1 UCLA
- No. 4/4 USC
- No. 15/13 Ohio State
- No. 18/17 Maryland
- RV/-- Michigan
- RV/RV Michigan State
- RVRV Iowa
From Dec. 29 to Jan. 23, RU faced eight consecutive opponents who were ranked or receiving votes between the two polls. The team's strength of schedule was ranked 31st in the nation.
Returning to The Banks
RU returns seven Scarlet Knights to the squad in Destiny Adams, Lisa Thompson, Mya Petticord, Antonia Bates, Awa Sidibe, Kennedy Brandt and Chyna Cornwell.
During the 2023-24 campaign, this group combined for 125 games started, 1,267 points and 721 rebounds.
Welcoming the Newcomers
Head coach Coquese Washington added two transfers, a pair of freshmen and one walk-on in the offseason.
Graduate student JoJo Lacey joined the team from Boston College and sophomore Janae Walker from Kentucky.
As a senior, Lacey averaged 8.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She reached 10+ points in nine outings including two games with 20+ and a career-high 23-point performance against North Carolina (Feb. 29).
During her rookie season with the Wildcats, Walker played in 28 games and made one start. She netted a season-high six points and three field goals at No. 18/18 Louisville (Dec. 10), while also grabbing four rebounds three times. Walker led UK in blocks four times during the season.
Rookies Kiyomi McMiller and Zachara Perkins came "On The Banks" over the summer and walk-on junior Deja Young this fall.
A five-star recruit, McMiller was ranked No. 22 in her recruiting class by espnW. She played the last two seasons of her high school career at Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, averaging 30.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.8 steals per game during her senior campaign.
McMiller leaves high school with an impressive resume over a three-year span, scoring 2,015 points, 437 rebounds, 363 assists and 231 steals in 70 games.
During Perkins' 2022-23 season at Summercreek High School in Houston, Texas, she led her team to both an Area and a Bi-District Championship in addition to the Region 3 Finals. A consistent double-double type player, she averaged 18.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game through her junior season.
Perkins was named to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) All-State and All-Region teams. In addition, she was selected as the Newcomer of the Year and to the All-Academic Team.
Prior to Young arriving "On The Banks" she served as a walk-on for the Hampton women's basketball team from the fall of 2022 to the spring of 2023. During the campaign she helped the Pirates to a total of 12 wins including nine in conference play. At Teaneck high school, she helped guide her team in the first round of the 2021-22 NJSIAA Tournament with a season-high 26 points, five assists and five takeaways. In addition, she also aided her squad in reaching the North Jersey Section 1, Group 3 Quarterfinals.
Staff Additions
In addition to the five newcomers on the court, coach Washington also made some adds on the sideline. Johnetta Hayes was brought on as an assistant coach as well as Will McIntire as the director of Director of Scouting & Technology and Alejandro Ramirez as the interim director of basketball operations.
Hayes spent the last four seasons as the head coach at UMBC. In the 2022-23 season, Hayes led the Retrievers to an 11-win improvement, one of the best in the nation. Hayes also led the team to a 10-6 mark in America East play, their second-best record in program history.
McIntire comes to Piscataway after serving as a student manager and graduate assistant at Iowa over the past four years. Ramirez also served as a student manager with the Scarlet Knights over recent seasons before being promoted to his current role.
Scouting Army
Army battled until the very end of its season, winning five of their last six games. The team fell in the Patriot League Championship to Lehigh (74-62).
Trinity Hardy (13.6), Fiona Hastick (10.9) and Reese Ericson (10.5) all lead the team averaging double-digit points. Kya Smith paces the team with 7.5 rebounds per game.
Looking Ahead
The winner of the Rutgers versus Army will go onto face the victor of Charleston (24-7, 14-4 CAA) and Howard (21-11, 12-2 MEAC)/Sienne (17-13, 14-6 MAAC) in the Super 16 from March 26-28.
Follow Along
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