Rutgers women’s basketball (8-10, 2-4 B1G) earned a tough road win on Thursday night in coming from behind to defeat Minnesota (8-9, 1-5 B1G) by the final score of 65-59. The second straight win in Big Ten play was also the 1,000 victory in program history. Head coach Coquese Washington also earned the 100th Big Ten win of her coaching career.
Trailing by 9 points midway through the third quarter, the Scarlet Knights continued to battle and ultimately persevered. Minnesota was holding on to a 52-49 lead with 3:42 to play, but Rutgers closed the game out with a commanding 16-7 run for the victory.
Freshman Antonia Bates made a three-pointer to tie the game with just over three minutes remaining. Awa Sidibe’s basket with just over two minutes left gave Rutgers the lead for good. The Scarlet Knights made 9 of 10 free throw attempts in the final 2:39 of the game to seal the win.
Freshman Kayla Smikle scored 6 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead RU on 8 of 15 shooting. She added 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. It was the 14th game this season that Smikle has scored in double digits and the eighth that she scored 20 or more points.
Awa Sidibe finished with 13 points on 4 of 8 shooting along with 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot. Kai Carter scored 12 points off the bench on 4 of 10 shooting along with 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Kassondra Brown had a double-double inside with 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting along with 10 rebounds.
As a team, Rutgers shot 46.3% from the floor and made 14 of 18 foul shots for 77.8%. They held Minnesota to just 35.6% shooting from the field and only 26.3% from three-point range (5-19).
While both teams had 20 turnovers, a recurring issue for RU, the Scarlet Knights held a 20-11 advantage with points off of turnovers. They also outscored Minnesota 42-26 in the paint and 13-4 with transition scoring.
With the 1,000th victory, Rutgers is now the 22nd Division I women’s basketball program to achieve that win total. They join Maryland and Ohio State as the only Big Ten programs with that many wins.
In the context of this season, it was a tremendous win for Rutgers. After a difficult start to the season and playing with a shorthanded roster, this team has shown great resiliency in winning back to back Big Ten games. They were 0-8 against high major opponents before beating Nebraska last Saturday and now Minnesota. It’s a credit to the coaching staff led by Coquese Washington and the players. It’s a legitimate reason to be excited about the future of this program. Washington is starting to show progress in her first season on the job.
The Scarlet Knights will next play at No. 9/11 Maryland on Sunday, January 15 at 1 p.m. It will stream live on Big Ten Plus.
Thanks for reading the The Scarlet Faithful. For more Rutgers Athletics content from The Scarlet Faithful, follow us on Twitterand Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can subscribe to The Scarlet Faithful podcast on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. For advertising inquiries or to reach out directly, email at breitmanaaron@gmail.com
Watched the game. A very nice win for the women. They sure play at a high energy level on both ends of the floor. It’s amazing they can do this with only 8 players and still be so strong down the stretch. This is one of the few games where their TO’s didn’t hurt them as Minny had 20 as well and as you pointed out we outscored them in points off the TO’s. So, maybe this season can still be salvaged. They are fun to watch.
Smikle is a nice player to build a team around. This team deserves some fan support if they continue to play out the season at this level. Nice win for Coach.
FGM3RC73
January 13, 2023 at 1:12 pm
Watched the game. A very nice win for the women. They sure play at a high energy level on both ends of the floor. It’s amazing they can do this with only 8 players and still be so strong down the stretch. This is one of the few games where their TO’s didn’t hurt them as Minny had 20 as well and as you pointed out we outscored them in points off the TO’s. So, maybe this season can still be salvaged. They are fun to watch.
FlaRef
January 13, 2023 at 5:21 pm
Smikle is a nice player to build a team around. This team deserves some fan support if they continue to play out the season at this level. Nice win for Coach.