Rutgers women's basketball defeats Delaware State
After dropping their last six games, the Rutgers women’s basketball team took down Delaware State Sunday afternoon at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus by a score of 74-36.
The Scarlet Knights (5-7, 0-2) took control early by scoring first and never relinquishing the lead. They scored 17 points in the first quarter, while only allowing 3. Junior guard Awa Sidibe and graduate student guard Sayawni Lassiter both connected from deep. The Hornets (0-7, 0-0) only collected four rebounds while Rutgers had 14.
Delaware State picked up their play in the second frame putting up 13 points, compared to the Knights’ 16. Senior guard Lasha Petree hit a deep shot, for the only make behind the arc of the quarter.
Going into halftime, Rutgers held a 33-16 lead that they added to once action resumed.
With 10 minutes left in the game, the Knights were up 53-26.
Graduate student guard Victoria Morris added to the three-pointer party, 4 minutes into the quarter. Their highest-scoring quarter of the day iced the game, and Rutgers walked off with a victory.
The Knights used everybody they could to secure the win, a strategy that has been used earlier in the season. All 16 rostered players checked in and played for at least 7 minutes, while 13 players scored.
Sidibe led Rutgers in scoring, putting up 15 points, good for her career-high. Sophomore center Sakima Walker had a double-double featuring 11 points and seven rebounds. Morris nabbed three steals of the Knights' 11 steals, right around their season average.
Rutgers was sent to the charity stripe 18 times and sank 10 of their attempts, good for 55.6 percent. Most of their 74 points came in the paint — the Knights scored 44 in the painted area, while Delaware State put 16 of their own. Rutgers outrebounded the Hornets 40-20.
The Knights continue their out-of-conference homestead with a Tuesday night matchup against Central Connecticut State. The Blue Devils (1-5, 0-0) lost their last three games, with their last one coming as a 116-65 defeat to Syracuse. Rutgers has won all three meetings between the teams.
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