Rutgers women's basketball falls to Penn State despite career-high 33 points from Destiny Adams
The Rutgers women’s basketball team fell short against Penn State 94-80 at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus on Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (6-13, 0-6) could not keep up with the Lady Lions' (11-5, 2-3) clinical finishing and have now lost eight straight games.
Graduate student center Kassondra Brown opened up the scoring by getting to the rim and making a layup. Junior guard and forward Destiny Adams showed early signs of aggression and got to the rim for another two points.
Penn State then went on an 11-0 scoring run to take an 11-4 lead. Rutgers would respond with points from sophomore guard Mya Petticord and Adams but trailed 29-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Adams kept up the intensity in the second quarter, scoring the first 4 points. Makenna Marisa started to heat up from beyond the arc after making back-to-back shots with 6:01 left in the first half. The Knights struggled to find open looks, but Adams was able to score 11 of Rutgers' 13 points in the second quarter. The Lady Lions had a 45-30 lead at halftime.
The Knights would up their tempo in the third quarter, as Brown started the second half with a layup and a three-pointer. Rutgers was able to make it an 8-point game at the 8:25 mark, but Ashley Owusu’s jumper started a 14-7 scoring run for Penn State. Senior guard Erica Lafayette kept Rutgers in the contest with a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
In the final quarter, the Lady Lions went on a 13-4 scoring run and put the game out of reach. The Knights scored a game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, but they were unable to handle Penn State’s full-court press.
Adams finished the game with a career-high 33 points while also corralling in nine rebounds. The Lady Lions were dominant from three-point range, scoring 12 of their 20 attempts. Rutgers outrebounded Penn State 38-22 but continued its turnover trouble with 24 turnovers.
The Knights will look to earn their first Big Ten win of the season when they travel to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois to face off against Illinois on Wednesday. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“We shot 53 percent from the floor, I thought we shared the ball today,” said assistant coach John Hampton. “I think that’s a huge improvement when you go from game to game and when you start sharing the ball, you see more production out of certain players.”
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