Rutgers women’s basketball finished the regular season on Sunday with a 75-53 loss to No. 25 Illinois. The Scarlet Knights finished in 11th place with a 5-13 record in Big Ten play. RU is 11-18 overall in head coach Coquese Washington’s first season. With just eight scholarship players, this team has played hard all season and will now look to make a run in this week’s Big Ten Tournament.
As the No. 11 seed, Rutgers will face No. 14 seed Northwestern (9-20; 2-16) in the opening round. They’ll meet on Wednesday, March 1 in Minneapolis at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network.
The winner of Rutgers-Northwestern will play No. 6 seed Illinois on Thursday, March 2 at approximately 9:00 p.m. ET. The game will air on the Big Ten Network.
Rutgers played Northwestern once this season, beating them at the RAC on February 15. They won 62-48 after outscoring the Wildcats 20-6 in the fourth quarter. The Scarlet Knights swiped a season high 16 steals and held a 24-11 advantage in points off of turnovers. RU was also dominant in transition, holding a 22-5 advantage in fast break points. Rutgers held a +13 rebounding margin including 17 offensive rebounds that resulted in a 14-7 edge in second chance points.
Junior forward Chyna Cornwell was tremendous on the glass, grabbing a career high 17 rebounds, including 9 on the offensive glass. Freshman Kaylene Smikle led RU with 21 points on 7 of 17 shooting along with 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists.
We will have coverage of the Big Ten Tournament for Rutgers women’s basketball, as well as all-conference honors that will be announced later on Tuesday.
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