Rutgers Women's Basketball escapes test from Saint Peter's
In a week with three inferior opponents on the schedule, Rutgers Women’s Basketball needed to find a way to win all three with tougher opponents lined up next.
It may not get extra style points, but that mission was accomplished on Sunday.
The Scarlet Knights (7-2) defeated Saint Peter’s 57-39 at Jersey Mike’s Arena, in a game that saw the Peacocks (1-5) stay relatively close until Rutgers was able to close it out late in the fourth quarter.
Even though the offense had another inconsistent performance, taking until late in the fourth quarter to fully fire on all cylinders, the defense played a full 40 minutes, allowing Saint Peter’s to hit just 12 of 45 field goal attempts for a 27 percent clip, including 4-for-20 from the three-point line.
Kaylah Ivey found some of her scoring rhythm late in the game following three straight games of struggles from the floor. She tied with Nene Ndiaye and Imani Lester for the team lead with 12 points, hitting five of her 12 field goal attempts.
“I know it’s a long game,” said Ivey on how she kept her confidence up after a tough stretch. “I can’t let one play, or one bad shot, or anything like that affect the rest of the game. So I kind of just try to stay locked into the next play, and everything else will take care of itself.”
De’Naya Rippey was the lone Peacock in double-figures, scoring 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting from the floor, and 5-for-8 from the foul line.
Second-quarter struggles continue
After appearing to put some momentum together in the second quarter in Friday’s win over Northeastern, some of the issues came back to light on Sunday.
The Peacocks put together a zone for stretches throughout the game, including during the second quarter. It took Rutgers until later on in the game to fully figure it out, including an 18-point fourth quarter.
In the second, the Scarlet Knights scored ten points on only six field goal attempts, as they committed five turnovers.
“I think the biggest thing is ball movement and ball reversals,” head coach Coquese Washington said after the game. “We were a little slow with our ball movement and ball reversals for much of the game. And as we talked about it and worked through it, we started to see what our openings were. We made some subs and put different combinations out there to attack it in different ways. Kaylah made some good plays down the stretch, and once we stretched the zone out, we got a couple of interior looks.”
Sterling defense
As mentioned previously, the Scarlet Knights played a complete defensive game and limited Saint Peter’s the entire way.
Coming into the game, the Peacocks ranked 340th in Bart Torvik’s offensive efficiency, having scored less than 40 points twice and recording a season high of 58 points against Division I competition.
The main thing Saint Peter’s does well is shoot plenty of three-pointers, though they do not often make those attempts. That was no different on Sunday, as the Peacocks shot 4-for-20 from beyond the arc.
Rutgers was also able to shut down any activity at the rim, holding the opposition to a 4-for-14 mark on layups, and a 4-for-11 mark on midrange shots.
The only consistent offense the Peacocks were able to generate was drawing fouls, as they shot a solid 11-for-16 from the free-throw line.
Rutgers also forced 15 turnovers and won the rebounding battle by 13, using its size and talent advantage to shut down Saint Peter’s in the final minutes.
Pulling away late
It took longer than it probably should have, but the Scarlet Knights finally put together some consistent offense late in the game to eliminate any threat of the Peacocks coming back.
One reason for the struggles early on to put together a complete performance, was a quick turnaround from the previous game. They did not have a lot of time to fully scout and prepare afer playing on Friday night, but once things started to become clearer, Rutgers took advantage. After this game, the Scarlet Knights have six days until their next time on the floor, a big test to open Big Ten play.
I think the one-day prep and the quick turnaround definitely impacted us a little bit today,” said Washington. “I think we’ll have some time to get in the gym. We’ll have some time to continue to put some shots down in terms of practice. And I think we’ll be fine going into Iowa.”
That quick turnaround also appeared to affect the shooting in the game. Following its best perimeter performance against the Huskies on Friday, the Scarlet Knights shot 4-for-15 from the three-point line, and 7-for-15 from the foul line. The schedule takes a turn upwards in terms of difficulty following this game.
Up next
Rutgers Women’s Basketball begins Big Ten play next week, as the Scarlet Knights will host Iowa in the lone early conference game in December at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
That game will tip off at 6 pm and will be televised on Fox Sports 1.
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