Rutgers takes over late, defeats FDU to close five-game homestand
It may not have earned style points the whole way, but Rutgers Women’s Basketball has closed its first five games at home with a 4-1 record.
The Scarlet Knights had to battle late, but took complete control in the final minutes to close out a 59-48 win over FDU. With the game tied at 46 with 4:01 to play, Rutgers took over both sides of the ball and ended the game on a 13-2 run, spurred by Kaylah Ivey‘s resurgence after nine straight misses from the floor. She finished with 10 points for the game, with three straight buckets during the closing run.
Zachara Perkins led the way for the Scarlet Knights with a career-high 17-point, nine-rebound performance as she was able to win off the dribble, and knocked a trio of three-pointers. Imani Lester (13 points) and Nene Ndiaye (10 points) also scored double-digits. FDU guards Ava Renninger and Madlena Gerke led the Knights with 20 and 11 points, respectively.
“We made a few defensive adjustments,” Scarlet Knights head coach Coquese Washington said after the game. “I thought we were able to pressure them a little bit more, and I think that was the difference.”
Second-half takeover
In a tied game at the half, Rutgers was able to give itself a bit more breathing room thanks to a big-time third quarter defensively and at the rim.
The Scarlet Knights forced five turnovers in the quarter, and grabbed five offensive rebounds to give themselves nine more shot attempts than FDU in the frame.
Even with the proficiency at the basket and on defense, the Scarlet Knights were not able to fully take over, as they only managed a 5-for-19 clip from the floor. Still, Rutgers was able to build a bit of a cushion early on in the third after holding the Knights scoreless for over five minutes. They clawed back with multiple baskets to end the quarter trailing 39-35.
FDU then built off its momentum with two consecutive three-pointers and took the lead back in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter, and the two teams played even for the next three minutes.
In the aforementioned 11-0 run that broke the game open, Ivey made two straight open midrange jumpers to get herself back on the board, and Perkins added a spot-up three-pointer. Lester finished at the basket, and Perkins iced the game at the free throw line to end any chance of a comeback by the Knights.
“Mostly my teammates were finding me,” Perkins said of her career performance. “I think just having that aggressive mindset, no matter what happens on the defensive end. We obviously want to be good on defense, but if we do not get a stop, it’s just about how we bounce back. We work on score-stops, so even getting a stop, I think just having that aggressive mindset pushing in transition, that was our goal.”
Defensive slugfest
Both of these teams struggled to put together consistent offensive possessions, and the defensive efforts by both teams were a big reason why the game stayed so close for the first 35 minutes of game time.
For the Scarlet Knights, Antonia Bates had her best game of the season, particularly as the team’s best stopper. She led the team with 10 rebounds, and played an integral role in both the third- and fourth-quarter runs on the defensive side.
“I think her comfort level is on the defensive end of the floor,” said Washington. “I think she gets her confidence and her mojo — for lack of a better word — on the defensive end, and especially the first half. She got a bunch of really aggressive and important defensive rebounds And that’s really where she impacted the game for us, on the defensive end of the floor and rebounding.”
On the flip side, Rutgers struggled to find its footing offensively, registering its second-lowest scoring output of the year. The Scarlet Knights shot 19-for-52 (36 percent) from the floor, with a 14-for-40 mark (35 percent) inside the three-point line.
The turnover bug once again came back to bite Rutgers, with the 17 giveaways marking the second-most this season, trailing only last week’s loss to Stony Brook.
“I think we’re starting to understand where people want to score and where they’re best at,” Perkins said of the team’s growth offensively through five games. “And I think we’ve worked on that in practice, and worked on our roles, and I think everybody’s starting to understand their roles, and it helps us go together more.”
Turnaround on the boards
On the positive, the Scarlet Knights’ rebounding efforts took a turn for the better after halftime. The Knights grabbed eight offensive rebounds – though only got three second-chance points out of them. Rutgers outrebounded FDU 25-16 in the second half, and limited the Knights’ opportunities while getting more for themselves.
“[Just] being more aggressive and more intentional about our boxouts,” said Lester on the second-half rebounding. “They had some really fast guards that were coming in and crashing, so just paying attention to that, and then also as forwards doing our job and keeping our people off the boards, and just everybody collectively doing at the same time.”
Closing the homestand
At 4-1, the Scarlet Knights ended their first five games at home on a high note, with the lone loss coming against the Sea Wolves.
The jump in competition takes a leap from here, with Auburn looming ahead, as well as tilts against Princeton in the nonconference, and Iowa in the early Big Ten game.
Rutgers certainly looks like an improved defensive unit, but the offense is still figuring itself out at times, certainly not helped by the fact that guards Faith Blackstone and Lauryn Swann have not suited up for the last five games, pushing the deeper rotation into more action, and leaving a lot of guard responsibility on Ivey and Ndiaye to run the offense.
“Some good things, and we’re definitely a work in progress,” Washington said on the opening five games. “We have to continue to gel, we have to continue to flesh out who we are and how we’re gonna play, and what things look like on gameday. But very pleased to be 4-1, but realizing that we got more work to do.”
Up next
The Scarlet Knights hit the road for the first time, as they travel down to Auburn on Thursday and face off against the Tigers in the return game of a home-and-home series started two seasons ago. Rutgers will also face off against guard Mya Petticord, who spent two seasons with the program before opting to enter the transfer portal for her final season.
That game will tip off at 7 pm ET, with broadcast information to be released later in the week.
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