Four games to look out for on Rutgers women's basketball 2024-2025 schedule
The Rutgers women's basketball team released its 2024-2025 schedule in September. The Scarlet Knights are looking for a comeback campaign after finishing with a disappointing 8-24 record with only two conference wins last season.
Rutgers will have 29 regular season games on its calendar after participating in an exhibition game at home against Caldwell on October 27.
For the games that do count, here are four matchups to look out for as the Knights prepare for their return to the hardwood.
November 24 at home versus Princeton
Whenever any Rutgers team plays against in-state rival Princeton, there's something at stake: New Jersey pride. That should be the case for the Knights as they look to counter-punch their opponent down the turnpike.
In the last two matchups, the Tigers have gotten the best of Rutgers. In the 2022-2023 season, Princeton won 77-56 on the road and did the same in the 2023-2024 season in a 66-55 victory at home inside Jadwin Gymnasium.
Turnovers haunted the Knights in their matchup with the Tigers last season and halted any chance of them coming back, even though they tried.
With the additions of talented freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller and freshman forward Zachara Perkins, Rutgers' odds of overcoming its NJ opponent for the first time since 2017 trend upward.
January 8 at Minnesota
The Knights were able to produce a few diamonds in the rough last season. One of them came in an 81-73 victory over Minnesota for their second and last conference victory in the early months of 2024. It was a part of the small handful of games last season where Rutgers was able to win the turnover battle.
Since joining the Big Ten, the Knights are 8-6 in matchups with the Golden Gophers.
From February 17, 2022, to February 13, 2024, Rutgers was 3-0 against Minnesota but lost when it mattered most last March. The Knights fell to the Golden Gophers by a score of 77-69 in the first round of the 2024 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament and will look to exact their revenge this season.
Rutgers has shown it can compete with Minnesota, making it a crucial conference game the Knights could steal in Minneapolis.
February 20 at Washington and February 23 at Oregon
A set of games fans should be interested in are Rutgers' dates across the country with two of the Big Ten's new additions: Washington and Oregon.
It should be a 4-to-5-day stay for the Knights on the West Coast. They will face both the Huskies and the Ducks for the first time as conference foes.
The biggest worry surrounding the addition of Washington, Oregon, UCLA and USC to the conference was its effect on its east coast schools and their players.
Rutgers, being the closest Big Ten team to the Atlantic Ocean, will have to travel the longest distance to get to these universities. Luckily, it will face off against UCLA and USC at home, but it won't be so lucky for the other two newcomers.
This could very well lead to a harder time adjusting to the different time zones, which may put the Knights at a disadvantage against Washington and Oregon. Only time will tell if that will be an issue for Rutgers, especially with back-to-back games in the West. As of now, the Knights are in uncharted waters.
Still, these two games will have a lot of meaning — both for the program and for its standings within the conference in 2024.
Rutgers will officially begin its regular season schedule on November 4 against Manhattan at Jersey Mike's Arena on Livingston campus.
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