Kiyomi McMiller's career day leads Rutgers women's basketball to bounce back win over FDU

The Rutgers women’s basketball team defeated FDU 83-58 in an offensive outpouring on Wednesday at Jersey Mike’s Arena. The Scarlet Knights (6-4, 0-1) continue to rack up out-of-conference wins as the gauntlet of conference play looms ahead. 

The first quarter started in typical Rutgers fashion, with the offense led by freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller and senior forward Destiny Adams. The duo started the game by scoring a combined 17 straight points for the Scarlet Knights. As a team, Rutgers shot effectively from the field, going 11-for-18 in the opening frame, but left a good amount of points at the charity stripe. 

The Scarlet Knights were dominant on the defensive end, holding the Knights (7-3, 0-0) to just 6-for-18 on the floor and 3-for-9 from beyond the arc. FDU kept things close, trailing just 25-17 after one period of play, which was fueled by 7 points from Ava Renninger.

Rutgers did not have the same shooting efficiency in the second quarter, shooting just 33.3 percent from the field, but as a team, they knocked down 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Scarlet Knights saw production from junior guard Mya Petticord, who scored 8 points and knocked down two triples. Rutgers held a 46-31 lead going into the halftime break. 

The Knights flipped the script in the third quarter, using their defense to hold the Scarlet Knights to just 15 points. Although FDU shot 4-for-13 from the field in the quarter, a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line led them to outscoring Rutgers 16-15. The Scarlet Knights, on the other hand, shot just 20 percent from the charity stripe in the third frame. The Knights locked McMiller and Adams, who combined for just 4 points on a combined 33.3 percent shooting from the field.

Sophomore guard Lisa Thompson led Rutgers with 4 points in the quarter but left the game after an apparent knee Injury. Thompson could not put any weight on her knee and had to be carried off by team personnel.

“She’s got a leg injury, but I don’t know anything,” said head coach Coquese Washington. “I haven’t talked to the doctors or trainers yet.”

The Scarlet Knights took over in the fourth quarter, with McMiller adding another 10 points to her total en route to tallying a career-high 30-point performance. McMiller and graduate student center Chyna Cornwell both recorded 11 rebounds and picked up their second double-double of the season.

Rutgers played a very complete game today, dominating the glass with 14 more rebounds than FDU and an impressive 12 more offensive rebounds. The Scarlet Knights were also vigilant with the ball, only allowing 10 turnovers and 11 points off of said turnovers. With a steady guard like McMiller handling the ball, the pace and efficiency of the offense have started to trend in the right direction. 

As conference play approaches, there is no better time than now for the team to be clicking in every aspect of the game. Many mistakes that Rutgers made against Wisconsin were cleaned up today, which is a delightful sight to see for fans. 

“We want to take care of the ball, we want to get shots instead of, you know turnovers,” Washington said. “When you have good ball handlers like Kiyomi, that can really take over leading the team… and making good decisions, that helps with us having low turnover numbers.”  

The Scarlet Knights have a few days off before they are back in action against Wagner on Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and will broadcast on Big Ten Plus and 88.7 WRSU-FM.