Rutgers women's basketball defeats Minnesota for 2nd consecutive win
After losing its first 12 Big Ten games as part of a 10-game losing streak, the Rutgers women’s basketball team picked up its second win in a row with a 79-61 road win over Minnesota tonight. The Scarlet Knights (9-17, 2-12) have split the season series with the Golden Gophers (12-15, 5-10) after Minnesota defeated the Knights in the teams’ first meeting.
To start off the game, Rutgers would occupy a narrow lead for most of the first quarter, but a three-pointer from Deja Winters with 12 seconds remaining meant the Knights would trail 15-13 after one quarter of play. Senior guard Lasha Petree scored 8 of Rutgers’ 13 points in the frame.
The second quarter saw the Knights take control of a sizable lead until the Gophers would take a 5-point lead with 7:46 to go in the period. With 5:23 left until halftime, Minnesota led 22-20.
To close the half, Rutgers would score 13 unanswered points to take a 33-22 lead into halftime. The Knights shot 53.33 percent in the second quarter to the Gophers' 14.29 percent and outscored them 20-7.
In the third quarter, Rutgers maintained and grew its lead even further, never letting Minnesota get closer than 8 points. The Knights would lead by as much as 17 points with 25 seconds left in the period before the team ultimately took a 55-40 lead into the game’s final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Rutgers led by more than 20 points for a large portion of the final period. The lead peaked at 24 points twice, with the second 24-point lead coming off a jumper from junior forward Tyia Singleton with 4:50 to play.
The Gophers were not able to launch a comeback in the game’s final minutes as the Knights secured their second conference victory and first road victory of the season.
Petree was the main catalyst on offense as she followed up her 17-point performance against Penn State with 20 points and seven rebounds in the win. Graduate student forward Osh Brown registered her 10th double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Singleton added 12 points of her own.
Rutgers shot its second-highest field goal percentage in Big Ten play as it shot 48.4 percent. The Knights also made seven three-pointers on 36.8 percent shooting while dominating the glass 44-28. Rutgers went a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line in the second half.
In the losing effort, Winters and Sara Scalia combined for 35 of Minnesota’s 61 points. Despite scoring 17 points, Scalia, who is the Gophers’ leading scorer, shot just 3-13 from the field and 2-7 from downtown, where she shoots 41.8 percent this season.
The Knights will now return home to face Purdue on Sunday. Tip-off is at 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“I think we played with great pace, with great energy, and I thought our players stayed focused for the entire time," said acting head coach Timothy Eatman after the game. “I’m so proud of them. I’m so happy for them that they are starting to reap some of the benefits of all of their hard work.”
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