Rutgers women’s basketball overcame an 11 point first half deficit to defeat Penn State 86-82 in overtime on Thursday night at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights lost in Happy Valley a month ago by 18 points. However, this team continues to play extremely hard for head coach Coquese Washington. RU delivered the first win over Washington’s former program with a balanced performance.
All eight players ending up in the scoring column and five scored in double digits. Kai Carter led the way with 17 points on 5 of 10 shooting along with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal. Chyna Cornwell was a force inside with her seventh double double of the season. She tallied 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting and 10 rebounds.
ReigningBig Ten Freshman of the Week Kaylene Smikle had 14 points on 4 of 13 shooting along with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Awa Sidibe played a team high 42 minutes finishing with 10 points behind 8 of 12 shooting from the foul line. She added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.
Erica Lafayette scored 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting and 3 rebounds. Kassandra Brown had 9 points and 10 rebounds while Abby Streeter added 7 points off the bench. Freshman Antonia Bates added 3 points, 4 rebounds and a steal.
Rutgers shot 44.1% from the field while holding PSU to 42.1%. RU held a +13 free throw differential, making 24 of 36 attempts (66.7%). The Scarlet Knights scored 50 points in the paint, were +4 on the glass and held a 16-12 advantage in second chance points.
“We played hard and gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game in the fourth quarter,” said head coach Coquese Washington. “That is one of the things that we talk about, just giving ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter and see what happens, especially at home. I just thought that we had a tremendous effort.”
Rutgers is now 9-13 overall and 3-7 in Big Ten play. Next up the Scarlet Knights will play at No. 6/6 Indiana on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. The league contest will air live on BTN+.
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I think Coach Washington is doing a nice job with the roster she has, given the lack of depth. Smikle appears to be a building block and now we wait to see if the new HC and staff can recruit. I have a comment to make that isn’t meant to be snarky and I hope won’t be misconstrued. I just don’t think it’s proper for the Rutgers Women’s HC to conduct a post game press conference (or any interview) chewing gum. If it calms the nerves during the game, that’s one thing, but it looks unprofessional during a press conference. This is intended to be constructive criticism and has nothing to do with her coaching or leadership abilities. It’s just not a good look.
pj43
January 27, 2023 at 8:03 pm
I think Coach Washington is doing a nice job with the roster she has, given the lack of depth. Smikle appears to be a building block and now we wait to see if the new HC and staff can recruit. I have a comment to make that isn’t meant to be snarky and I hope won’t be misconstrued. I just don’t think it’s proper for the Rutgers Women’s HC to conduct a post game press conference (or any interview) chewing gum. If it calms the nerves during the game, that’s one thing, but it looks unprofessional during a press conference. This is intended to be constructive criticism and has nothing to do with her coaching or leadership abilities. It’s just not a good look.