Rutgers women’s basketball struggles with consistent scoring in loss vs Northwestern
After suffering an 88-41 loss to Maryland, Rutgers women’s basketball (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten) returned to action on the road when they battled the Northwestern Wildcats (6-10, 0-5 Big Ten). It was the Scarlet Knights who got out to a 6-0 lead and stretched it out to 17-7 before Northwestern closed the first quarter down 19-15.
However, in the second quarter, it was all Wildcats. After Zachara Perkins continued her hot start with a layup to push the Rutgers lead to 21-16, Northwestern made a couple of two-point baskets to cut the lead to 23-20. Lauryn Swann answered with a pair of three-pointers, but the Wildcats answered with two threes of their own before Grace Sullivan tied the game at 29 with a paint basket around the halfway mark of the quarter.
From there, Rutgers went on an extended scoring drought that lasted several minutes, and Northwestern took advantage, stretching their lead to 37-29 before Perkins snapped the scoring drought with a layup. Tayla Thomas quickly answered with a layup of her own with 1:13 left in the quarter, and neither team scored for the remainder of the half. Northwestern used a 24-12 second quarter to head to the locker room up 39-31, outrebounding Rutgers 26-12 and 7-0 in offensive rebounds.
The Wildcats picked up right where they left off after halftime, with the teams trading free throws before Northwestern went on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 47-33. Caroline Lau threw a full-court assist to find Sullivan for a layup before assisting a Casey Harter layup. Lau completed the run with a layup on her own before Faith Blackstone was fouled twice, allowing her to score four Rutgers points and cut the lead to 47-36.
Blackstone was once again fouled on a trip to the rim and split the pair, pulling Rutgers within 10 points as the Wildcats did not score for over two minutes after their early-quarter explosion. Lau once again made a dazzling assist, finding a cutting Thomas to snap their scoring drought and pushing the lead back to 49-37. After Swann missed a three-pointer, Perkins committed an offensive foul, which was upgraded to a flagrant foul after a lengthy review.
Harter split the two free throw attempts, and Sullivan made a midrange jumper to push the Northwestern lead to 52-37. Imani Lester finally snapped the Rutgers scoring drought on the floor with a layup, but she was quickly answered by another Sullivan jumper. Nene Ndiaye made a driving layup from the left side, but Lau hit a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to push the lead to 16 points heading to the fourth quarter.
Swann opened the fourth quarter with a long two with her foot on the line to briefly cut the lead to 14, but Harter answered back with a pair of free throws upon being fouled. Perkins fouled out with about eight minutes to play, which ended her afternoon on ten points. Lau crossed into double-double territory after making a pair of free throws with 10 points and 13 assists, but Lester cut the lead back to 16 with two free throws of her own.
The Knights would be unable to make the game any closer at the end of the fourth quarter, as for every shot they made down the stretch, the Wildcats had an answer.
Rutgers could not slow down the Wildcat offense, as three players had at least 10 points, while Harter led the way with 21 points. Sullivan was right behind her with 20 points in this game.
The Knights were once again plagued by inefficient shooting, as they could only muster 29 percent on their field goal attempts and 21 percent on their attempts from three.
Rutgers women’s basketball will be back in action on Sunday, January 18th, as they are set to head out to State College to take on Penn State at 1 pm.
Category: General Sports
