Rutgers women's basketball falters again on road versus Michigan
The Rutgers women's basketball team fell to Michigan 86-58 on Saturday at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Scarlet Knights' (7-19, 1-12) inability to start off the game with momentum hurt their chances of overcoming the Wolverines (16-9, 7-6).
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
First-half struggles
Once again, Rutgers was down early in the first quarter, as Michigan hit four three-pointers. While the Wolverines were hot, the Knights were not. Rutgers went 3-15 from the field in the first and missed all five of its three-point attempts.
At the end of the first quarter, Michigan led 20-6.
The second quarter wasn't much better for the Knights, as the Wolverines would outscore the former 25-10 in the period. Like the quarter before, Rutgers struggled to knock shots down. The Knights owned a 25.9 percent success rate from the field in the first half, and it was hard for them to compete with Michigan's 65.5 field goal percentage. Rutgers also missed six more three-point attempts in the second.
With Laila Phelia out of the starting lineup, it was Cameron Williams who took the reins for the Wolverines in the first half against the Knights with a team-high 15 points. After two quarters, the highest total for a Rutgers player was just 4 points.
Too little, too late
The Knights picked up the pace in the second half but could not climb out of the hole they dug themselves into in the first two quarters. Rutgers ended up leading Michigan 42-41 in second-half points as it hit 15 of its 25 shots in the third and fourth quarters combined.
The Knights turned the ball over fewer times than the Wolverines in the second half, but again, it was too late.
Inside the box score
Michigan shot 61.8 percent from the field. Williams led the pack with 23 points on 10-14 shots, while Jordan Hobbs tacked on 16 points, dished out eight assists and corralled four rebounds.
The Wolverines' three-point shooting and rebounding were key in their victory over Rutgers, as they outrebounded the Knights 33-21 and accumulated a 57.1 success rate from long distance.
Rutgers, on the other hand, could not find its stride beyond the arc. Overall, the Knights hit 3 of 17 three-point attempts, as sharp-shooting freshman guard Jillian Huerter was noticeably quiet with zero makes from long range.
Rutgers will look to bounce back on Tuesday against Minnesota at Jersey Mike's Arena on Livingston campus. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the game being broadcast on Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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