Rutgers women's basketball suffers second half collapse in loss to Princeton
The Rutgers women's basketball team fell to in-state rival Princeton tonight. The Scarlet Knights (5-8, 0-2) collected their eighth loss of the season against the Tigers (7-3, 0-0) in a second half collapse.
Princeton got off to a hot start in the first 5 minutes, putting up 10 points to Rutgers’ 4.
The Knights did not start putting up big numbers until the final minutes of the first quarter. A three-pointer by freshman guard Antonia Bates put Rutgers within one, making the score 10-9 with 3:22 left in the first quarter.
The final minutes of the first frame were fairly anticlimactic, with not a lot of scoring from either team. The two evened up the score by the time the buzzer sounded, with the score resting at 14-14 after the first 10 minutes.
At the 5:21 mark of the second quarter, junior guard Erica Lafayette drained a three-point shot to make the score 19-17 with the Knights on top.
Bates hit another big three and the team found a way to control the game in the second quarter. Rutgers had a 10-point lead heading into the second half and led 32-22.
The final 20 minutes is when things really took a turn for the worse for the Knights. The Tigers had an electric third quarter, going on a 17-0 run that lasted seven minutes to give them a 41-39 lead. Princeton scored 25 points through the entirety of the third quarter.
Though Rutgers did not trail by much, the momentum was clearly in the favor of the Tigers at this point which only helped to propel them into the final frame of action.
Princeton put the game to bed in the final quarter, outscoring the Knights 30-12 to secure a road victory. The Tigers outscored Rutgers 55-24 in the second half and turned a 10-point halftime deficit into a 21-point win.
Though the Knights ultimately fell and collected another loss, freshman guard Kaylene Smikle had an impressive game for Rutgers, putting up a career-best 26 points to go along with eight rebounds and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
Senior guard Awa Sidibe followed Smikle with 12 points of her own. Most notably, graduate student guard Abby Streeter, senior guard Kai Carter and junior forward Chyna Cornwell all combined for 0 points in the outing.
The Knights finished the game with a higher field goal percentage, three-point percentage and free throw percentage than Princeton but foul trouble, scoring droughts and 21 turnovers hurt Rutgers.
On the other side, Julia Cunningham led the Tigers in their victory with 24 points and went 4-of-5 on shots behind the arc. Including Cunningham, Princeton had four total players that scored double-digit points in tonight’s contest.
The Knights will be back in action on Sunday for their final game before the new year. Rutgers will host New Orleans at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus for a Happy Holidays themed game. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network as well as 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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